Timed Worlds
by Storyboard Sketch
Summary: After a large explosion takes out a Kraang base, the turtles meet up with a rather unusual kunonichi named Ella and her twin brother Darwin. Although friendly and willing to offer a hand in battle...they seem to be hiding more than the turtles know. And when the two ask for their help to get back home...will both sides be ready to say good bye to their new friends?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

**(Note: In this time period there are two kinds of Utrom: the Kraang, a slightly brain washed army commanded by the one who they took the name of, and the Utrom who are helpful and reasonable.)**

The Kraang fighters stopped in the ally way as they looked around for the one they were pursuing.

"Where did she go?" Asked one as he used his animatronic body to have a look around.

"Maybe she is as they say afraid to come out and play." Suggested the other, trying his tentacle at Earthen speech.

Ella dropped from the upper part of the building and landed on the back of one of the Kraang robot bodies.

"TAG you're it!" She proclaimed with a smile as she leapt off and smacked the other one into a wall with her nunchaku.

Her brother, Darwin was already locked in battle with quite a few Kraang off to her left outside the alley. His shuriken sliced through the metal like a laser, impressive for simple steel.

When he got surrounded he tossed his shuriken to the side as a distraction and then grabbed the arm of one of the Kraang, spinning it around to take out the rest of the group before tossing the Kraang aside and catching his shuriken upon its rebound.

He smirked as he stood up straight and Ella joined him in front of the Kraang's warehouse hideout. They had to duck however when they came under heavy laser fire from within the warehouse, mainly from the upper level windows. The two siblings took cover behind the alley's corner.

"Shesh, they're like insects!" Ella huffed, annoyed by how many kept coming. "Can't stop them until you take out the nest!"

"Well then…" Darwin took out three small shuriken, holding them between his fingers as he glared at the warehouse around the corner. "Someone must've called an exterminator."

He tossed the smaller blades back at the warehouse windows where each one hit their marks and the Kraang fell out of the panel-less frames to the ground. The twins darted from their shield of a building and into the main base where they had to dodge more lasers as they took out more of the drones that made up this place's defenses. But something was off….

"Darwin, I don't recognize these designs." Ella shouted out to the turtle as she tossed one of these new Kraang into a group of others. "The pink lighting is an amusing touch though. Hey, think they're all the females?"

"Ella! Get to the back!" Darwin called out a command to his sister. "Find out where they are all coming from! I'll cover you!"

"Got it!" She blocked a blow on her right before leaping backwards onto a large crate, looking down at her twin. "You sure you'll be alright?"

"Don't worry, I'll catch up!" He told her, motioning to the back with a wave of his hand. "I can handle this."

As she ran off along the piles of crates in the warehouse, he turned back to look at the dozens of Kraang droids that had locked onto him.

"I hope…." He muttered adding on to his previous statement.

Ella raced along the crates until she had to drop down to the ground when she saw the Kraang were coming from a smaller door. She ducked behind a rather large crate to avoid getting seen by another wave of droids as they darted out to fight Darwin at the entrance.

"This is getting ridiculous…." She muttered looking back over at the door and gripping her weapons tightly. "Alright, play time is over kiddies. Time to put the lid on this robot toy chest!"

She ran out from her hiding space to open the bright red door and quickly entered the room, jumping up onto an iron bar that made up the support for the ceiling for cover. Looking down she saw two of the Kraang operating a large computer that was linked to a very familiar machine.

"No…" Ella breathed when she saw the obvious use of her uncle's designs for a transdimensional teleporter by the wrong people. "So that's where they keep coming from. I gotta stop them."

She closed her eyes for a moment in memory of her family before jumping down behind the droids and bashing both of their heads together to shut them down.

"Now, to shut this thing down." She quickly sat down at the computer and began typing away. "No one steals from my family and gets away with it."

She didn't even get the first code in before the door was burst open by Darwin who quickly closed and locked the door just in time as the Kraang began to ram it, trying to break it down.

"That should hold them for now," He panted as he turned around, now seeing the teleporter before them. "Aww shell…."

"Uhh… Darwin?" Ella was staring at the door in fear.

"What?" He turned around to hear the Kraang loading their guns. "Oh no."

"Hit the deck!" Ella called out and the twins dropped to the ground as a barrage of laser fire burst through the door and around the room.

When the dust cleared and the two looked up the first thing that caught Ella's attention was the large amount sparks coming from the computer and the teleporter since the lasers had hit the machines instead of the twins.

"Oh this is gonna HUUUUURRRRT….." Ella winced at the thought of what was coming.

"April's gonna kill us…" Darwin sighed, they would be home late again.

The Kraang kicked open the door to the room and aimed for the twins. "Surrender intruders-"

They didn't even get the chance to finish or get a shot off, there was a bright flash of light followed by the iconic sound of something exploding.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

On the roof tops of New York city, four young anthropromorphic turtles watched a tall seemingly abandoned business building. Experience had taught them not to be deceived by appearances, and Kraang had been going in and out of this building for a few days now. They would've had to have been fools not to notice this place.

"Shesh, a ton went in and not a single one of them has come out of there." Leonardo lowered the telescope that Don had allowed him to use for the moment.

"Must be quite a party in there." Raphael grinned at the thought of a large brawl.

"Hold it." Leo knew better than to let his brothers go up against so many Kraang at once. "We don't stand a chance if we go in right now. Let's wait for some of them to leave first."

"Humph," His brother grimaced. "Way to kill my good mood Leo…"

The leader of the group just rolled his eyes at Raphael's comment.

"Leo," A hand on his shoulder made him turn around to look at a concerned Donatello. "Something's wrong with Mikey. He hasn't said a word all day."

They all looked over at the "youngest" of the group who was sitting on the edge of the building, solemnly looking down at the concrete that made up the roof.

"Think he'd snap out of that day dream if I hit him?" Raph asked the other two, secretly half-heartedly.

Leo shot his brother a look before giving Donnie the telescope and approaching Mikey.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?" He asked the upset turtle, causing Mikey to look up at his brother for a moment.

"It's just…" He saw the jokester sigh, lacking his usually happy-go-lucky outlook. "Ever since the last training session I've noticed that…well… I'm the weakest of the team."

"Come on Mikey, that's not true." Leo tried to cheer him up.

"Actually it kinda is." Raph interjected, earning him a slap upside the head from Don. "Ow! Hey!"

"Mikey, no one here is better or worse than the rest." Leo placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. "We are only as good as we are because we work together. It's never turned out well when we split up."

Mikey seemed to think about that for a moment but his thoughts were interrupted when the Kraang base across the street suddenly blew up with a bright flash and a tower of flames. The entire building the group was on shook from the shock wave of the blast, knocking Mikey from his spot and onto the concrete of the roof.

"Ow…" He rubbed his head as he got up. "What was that?"

"The entire building just exploded!" Don was the only one who had seen it happen.

"Let's go!" Leo commanded and they all jumped down for a closer look before the fire department showed up.

Down below the entire place was up in flames, Kraang droid parts were scattered everywhere and the Kraang aliens were fleeing fast.

"Man…this place is a mess." Raph looked around at the shell of a building.

"What could'a done this?" Mikey was as stunned as the rest of the group as more of what remained of the roof fell from above.

Their tech head was already figuring that out as he examined the remains of a computer and an odd circular steel frame. "Whatever device that stood here I'm guessing. Something caused it to self destruct on its own."

"And someONE walked away from this." Leo looked at a set of footprints in the ash. "No idea who could've survived a blast like that, but they're probably another one of the experimental mutants the Kraang have made. Four toes…. Hmm…. Odd."

"Great…another monster we need to deal with." Mikey groaned at this discovery.

The sound of sirens caused the group to flee back up onto the city rooftops before the fire engine arrived at the scene.

Elsewhere…

Darwin put his unharmed sister back on her feet in a long abandoned building before he collapsed to his knees from the burning pain on his back. He had protected both himself and his sister from the blast by turning his shell towards the flames. However, it still caused quite a bit of damage. He would heal, but it still hurt like crazy.

"Darwin!" Ella quickly went to his side and helped him over to a bed to sit down. "You're hurt…."

"I-Its nothing." He lied badly through a wince, trying to calm his sister's fears.

"Stay here, don't move!" She told him as she got up.

After looking around the building a bit Ella grabbed some old cotton curtains and, using her shuriken, cut them into long strips of white cloth bandages. Not the prettiest things but they would do for now. She soaked them in water from the miraculously still working faucet in the kitchen before returning to her brother and wrapping up her burned brother's shell in the damp bandages. It wasn't much, but it would ease the pain greatly.

"Thanks Ella." Darwin did his best to smile at her before trying to get up. "Now let's get going."

"You are not going anywhere in that state." His twin gently pushed his shoulders down so he remained where he was. "Get some rest Darwin, we should be safe here for tonight. I'm going to find out where we are and get you some burn salve for that injury."

"Wait Ella…" He wanted to stop her as she approached the window they had come in from. "Those Kraang might still be out there."

"I'll be fine," She pulled her mask back over her face. "Darwin we maybe two halves of a team but it's just a short errand. It'll be okay I promise."

She was gone before he could protest again. Darwin sighed, his sister had good reason to worry but still… She wasn't always careful with thinking her actions through. He just hoped she wouldn't do something amateur hour like get captured by scientists or something.

"Ow…" Darwin decided to at least lie down, cause he wasn't going anywhere for a while with such a damaged shell.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

As exciting as the mystery blast was for Mikey, it didn't help with his current problem. In any battle he and his brothers were in it was usually himself who ended up on the back of his shell first. True he had his rare moments to shine but it was only with the help of his brothers he succeeded. So yeah, he had been feeling pretty useless lately.

He had been so lost in his own thoughts he hadn't noticed that he had somehow gotten separated from his brothers.

"Hey guys!" He called out, looking around for the group. "Where'd you go? Guys! Leo? Raph?"

As he searched for his brothers something else heard him instead. Mikey soon found himself blasted off of the roof top and landing on the ground below. Although he landed on his feet, Mikey wasn't too thrilled to see just what exactly had found him. About two dozen Kraang droids either dropped down from the roofs or emerged from the shadows of the streets around him.

"Where'd you all come from?" He was surprised that there was this many Kraang left as he took out his weapons, bracing himself for a battle. "Didn't you all explode or something?"

He backed up into an alley to get out of the bright lights of the street lamps. However fighting so many Kraang here probably wasn't his best idea….

Up above, racing along the tops of the buildings. Ella jumped over the gaps between roof tops easily, running over the metal and concrete skillfully. Rolling out of a landing, Ella got to her feet and looked around where she had ended up. A roof top herb garden, probably belonging to a housewife or a chef.

"It has to be here somewhere." She muttered as she began rummaging through the plants.

The sound of familiar blasters going off nearby caused her to duck behind a planter and out of sight. Then she realized it was coming from below, someone else was fighting Kraang right now.

"Hey, who forgot to invite me to the party?" She smirked a bit before spotting an aloe plant in the planter in front of her. "There it is!"

She used a small shuriken to cut some leaves off from the plant and then stored them away in her back pocket. The plant would help to heal Darwin's wounds when she got back to him.

"Hey! Cheep shot!" Someone shouted at the Kraang below.

"Hmm?" Ella was curious enough to go over to the edge of the building to look down at the fight below. "No…..way…."

She knew who it was just from the orange mask tied around his face. However this Mikey looked much younger than the one she knew, so… What was he doing out here on his own? She saw him getting backed up into a corner and her desire to aid family won over her ninja fear of being seen. She dropped down onto a fire escape just over Mikey's head to evaluate the situation. About a dozen Kraang droids surrounded the alley, a dozen more were already down.

"Hey!" She called down to Mikey who looked up in surprise at this new ninja. "Need a hand down there?"

"Wait…what? Who?" Mikey was extremely confused by the appearance of a new participant in this battle.

Ella just smiled beneath her mask jumping off of the fire escape just in time to avoid blasts from the Kraang droids then she landed in the center of the fray, both of her nunchaku out at the ready. Mikey's eyes went wide as he watched another person use simple nunchaku to fight all of these Kraang at once without fear. Ella tossed one of the Kraang droids into a group of others before turning to block one of their fists. She let the chain of her nunchaku wrap around the arm of the droid that had tried to punch her and grinned. The droid was soon used as a mace as it was swung in a wide circle to break down the rest of the Kraang that still stood, before it was thrown into the wall itself.

Ella spun her nunchaku with a smug grin before putting her weapons away. "And that is how you break a bot! Or twelve."

"Whoa…." Mikey breathed, stunned by what he had just seen.

Now that he could get a look at this girl, it was no wonder to him that he didn't spot her earlier. She was covered head to toe in a pitch black ninja suit and her mask covered all but her eyes which were a shining bright blue. Her odd sectioned pony tail was just as black as her outfit so…she blended into the night and shadows flawlessly. Another ninja who meant him no harm for a change.

"That….was AWSOME!" He shouted, throwing both fists up in the air.

"I know, right?!" Ella approached the turtle with the same level of excitement from having won the brawl.

"Where did you learn all that?" Mikey was happy just to have someone to talk too. "You turned them to scrap metal in no time."

Ella was about to answer but she was quickly cut off.

"Mikey! You over here?" Leo and the others had come looking for him.

"I'm over here guys!" Mikey called out towards the general direction he had heard his brothers.

He saw the ninja who had helped him try to move away but he gently grabbed her gloved hand to stop her.

"Wait just moment," This was the first time a friendly ninja had been kind enough to help him. "Don't go yet."

Ella didn't really know what to say to him to get out of this. As the others dropped down from above they instantly took on a defensive stance when they saw another ninja standing behind Mikey. Raph even going so far as to attacking the girl, a move which he soon regretted.

Out of instinct from countless training sessions, Ella ducked under Raph's oncoming stab attack and wrapped both chains of her nunchaku around his sai. Giving her weapons a hard yank and crossing her arms at the same time, Ella pulled both of Raphael's blades from his hands. The hot head of the group stared at this new ninja in shock as his sai spun away from him in two separate directions.

Ella stood up straight and pointed the end of her nunchaku at Raph's face. "DON'T….ever….do that again…"

Raphael took a step back as Mikey grinned at the new girl. "You are SO AWSOME!"

Ella blushed and rubbed the back of her head from the compliment. "Thanks."

"Mikey," Leo sheathed his swords for now, since the other two members of his team were too stunned to move right now. "What's going on here?"

"You guys totally missed the most awesome thing ever!" Mikey grinned as he described what had happened in his own way. "After we got separated a ton of Kraang droids came after me! I managed to take out some of them but I was WAY out numbered in this tiny alley! Just when I thought I was about to become target practice for a bunch of evil alien robots, this girl showed up and turned them all into a pile of junk within a few seconds! You should've seen her!"

"Oh stop…" Ella looked down, a blush on her face from all the compliments she was getting from the turtle. "I'm not the best fighter out there…"

Donnie looked up at her, putting the end of his staff on the ground as he addressed her. "B-But why did you help him?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend, as they say." The black covered ninja replied to him with a slight shrug. "I just couldn't stand there and watch those things take a fellow ninja down. I would never forgive myself if I had…."

"Thank you for your assistance," Leo thanked the ninja girl for saving his brother. "It's not often we get a friendly masked face around here."

"Hold it," Raph's gruff voice interrupted the group as he put away his sai. "How do we know she's not a member of Foot Clan? For all we know this could just be another trick!"

"You must be crazy to think that." Ella huffed, crossing her arms. "I would never stand in the same building as Karai unless it was to fight against her….again."

"See Raph?" Mikey tried to get his tough brother to have an open mind. "Now why would she save me from the Kraang if she was Foot Clan?"

"Still, why should we trust her Mikey?" Raph retorted back at him.

"You shouldn't," Ella answered for the orange masked turtle. "Other ninja usually aren't so kind. I speak from experience…. So… I can understand your caution. I should get back to my brother anyway. I found the aloe he needed so… I'll go now. Sorry to have bothered you."

She jumped back up the fire escape and headed up to the roof within a few jumps. Below, Mikey still had one more question and he held his hand up a tad as if wanting to stop her.

"Hey! Wait! What's your…." He frowned a bit when he realized that she had already vanished over the top of the building. "….name?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Ella removed her mask after she returned to the building where her brother was waiting. Darwin sat up after seeing that his sister was back, but he knew better than to stand.

"Run into any trouble?" He asked her as Ella sliced open the aloe leaves length wise with her shuriken.

"Nothing I couldn't handle." She told him as she scraped out the gel from the plant. "Now remove those bandages Darwin, kind of hard to apply this if your injury is covered."

He let a small smile come to his face for a moment as he followed his sister's instructions. When it came to Ella's knowledge on how to heal wounds, he was NOT going to argue. He remained still for her as she applied the herbal salve to his burned shell. At least it didn't sting, that was a nice change of treatment options. When Ella was done, she cut a new set of bandages from another curtain and re-bandaged his burned back.

"Where in the world did you find an aloe plant in New York?" Darwin asked his sister, knowing where they were from the buildings around them.

"Roof top garden," She smiled as she washed her hands off in the sink. "From there I heard someone else fighting with the Kraang."

"You helped them I assume?" Darwin didn't like the sound of this.

"But of course! Who am I not to aid Mikey and his brothers when they need it?" She looked back at him.

"Wait…Wh-at?" Darwin's eyes narrowed at his sister. "You were seen…by our father and his brothers?"

"Wellllllllll….. Yes and no." Ella sat on a stool as she thought it over. "They were CLEARLY not the turtles we know from our….well…. Universe I guess."

"Huh?" The turtle could never understand his own sister's thought process.

"Think about it," The green girl tapped her forehead with the side of her finger, a gesture that indicated thinking. "That was our Uncle's device that had exploded and he told me that it was meant to view both times and dimensions without interacting with them unless the need arises. When it failed and dragged us through, the universe it was connected to at the time was the only other place we could go."

She paused, looking at her brother as he was thinking this over to make sure he understood what she was saying.

"No keep going," Darwin motioned with his hand for her to continue. "I'll catch up."

"An alternate time line where the Utrom are much more violent, our family isn't really related to us except in….well species, and New York is more advanced than when we last saw it. Therefore….we are farther from home than we have ever been before. Separated by time and space from the world we knew."

There was a moment of silence as Darwin thought this over.

"So….this isn't our reality?" He asked for clarification.

"Not at all." Ella shook her head. "But Mikey and the others are still ninja here. Maybe they can help us."

"Maybe…." The injured ninja turtle was having a hard time deciding what to do. "But then again, if they can help us get home. We CANNOT let them know who we are. The alternate universe thing might be a little much for Mikey to comprehend."

"Heh heh," Ella chuckled nervously although her brother had a point. "Right…."

Speaking of the group of turtles, they had just gotten back to the lair where April had been waiting for them to get back.

As Donnie apologized to her and started explaining where they'd been, Mikey took a seat on the couch and began thinking about that ninja girl who had saved him.

She clearly wasn't a normal Foot Ninja armed with a pike or simple shuriken, for goodness sake she used the same weapons he did. The only other ninja he had seen with nunchaku come to think of it. As he looked at his own he remembered how the girl from before had used her's to take out a large crowd…and remove Raphael's weapons from his hands. A feat that was rather difficult to accomplish come to think of it.

"Hey," Donnie's voice broke Mikey out of his train of thought. "What's with you?"

"I was just thinking about that girl from earlier," Mikey told his brother, still having his thoughts on the ninja girl. "Man…. I wish I had asked her for her name before she left."

"Oh…" April smiled as she exchanged a look with Donnie.

"What?" Mikey looked over at the two.

"Somebody's got a crush on the ninja girl." The ginger haired human crossed her arms as she looked at the orange banded turtle.

"And got it bad." Donnie would know, he had experienced the signs of a crush himself….and still was.

"No way!" Mikey brushed off their comments even though his face was slightly pink. "I just thought she was really cool alright? It's not like I'll lay awake at night thinking about her like SOME turtles."

He looked at his brother to prove his point, making Donnie back off and April a bit confused.

"Huh?" April asked, wanting an explanation.

"I-It's nothing!" Donnie quickly replied, his own face grew bright red.

Off in the corner Raph was looking at his sai, trying his hardest to figure out how the heck a GIRL managed to take his weapons right out of his hands.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

The next evening, Ella was feeling particularly bitter about Darwin giving her the EXACT same lecture that both their uncle and grandfather had repeatedly given them about going to the outer world of New York. He emphasized the fact that, although Ella looked the most human out of the two of them, her green skin would make her just as strange as the rest of their family. So even she had to stay out of sight as much as possible and keep her face covered by her mask. However…all this she already knew, it was simple ninja common sense. Stay in shadows, stay out of sight, and keep your mask on.

"Darwin, you moron." She tossed a small pebble at a can over on the next roof, knocking it over and down into the street below. "Sensei already told us all that when we were visiting…. I'm not about to forget something our grandfather told us."

That was when she heard footsteps behind her and instantly stood up to face them, one hand on her nunchaku.

"Whoa!" Mikey backed off a bit, apparently he and his brothers had startled her. "Take it easy ninja girl."

Ella relaxed when she saw that it was just the group of four from the previous night. They had seen her on the roof top and came over to learn a bit more about the new girl in town.

"Oh it's just you guys," Ella was glad to see them instead of Foot Clan like usual. "You startled me."

"You alright?" Donnie asked her, noticing the depressed look in her eyes.

Ella shook her head as she joined them to talk a bit more. "It's just my idiot brother."

"Brother?" Leo looked up a bit, now a bit curious about this girl when previously he didn't really mind the fact that she was out and about the city.

Ella nodded, confirming her earlier statement for Leo. "He injured himself in a mission a short time ago, hence I am out here on my own. Still, it doesn't stop him from giving me the, "stay out of sight" lecture that our grandfather was always giving us. I've had it pounded into my head so many times its on permeant repeat in my brain's memory…."

"I hear that." Mikey understood what she meant perfectly. "Oh hey, what's your name anyway?"

"Oh!" Ella was shocked that she had forgotten they didn't know her name here. "I'm so sorry! I didn't introduce myself last night, did I? My name is Ella."

"I'm Mikey," He preferred to use their nicknames during introductions. "And these knuckle heads are my brothers. That's Leo, the one with the staff is Donnie, and the hot head is Raph….hey, where IS Raph?"

His question was answered when the red banded turtle sprung up from the shadows behind Ella to snatch her mask from off of her face. His brothers gasped, not because of Ella's skin tone…but just because of the action itself. Removing another ninja's mask was considered to be something you just DID NOT DO. To all ninja good or bad, you just don't remove another ninja's mask.

"Hey!" Ella glared at Raphael, more offended that he would take her mask from her than anything else.

"Raph….not cool." Leo shook his head in disapproval.

"Dude! You just don't do that!" Even Mikey was shocked at this action.

"Give me that!" Ella took back her mask from Raph.

"Sorry, but I just had to make sure you weren't-" He stopped in his sentence when he noticed something. "Hey….you have green skin."

"And…four fingers?" Donnie added, spotting the quad digits when Ella had taken back her mask.

"You have three." Ella countered Donnie's comment quickly.

"Touché…." The brainiac accepted that.

"What…are you?" Mikey asked, looking at this girl in a new light.

"Just another one of the freaks around this city," She informed them, keeping her mask off for now. "So I'm not perfectly human….that's okay. At least I'm not some kind of….. Oh I don't know… Spider monster thing."

Mikey shuddered at that. "Yeah… Definitely don't want another Spider Bites running around."

"Wait, you actually have such creatures around here?" Ella blinked in surprise and slight confusion. "I was just making something up."

"You must really not be from around here." Donnie made an educated guess.

"You don't know the half of it." Ella told them, still a little surprised that there was possibly a spider mutant in this world. "Trust me on that…."

"Hold on," Donnie took out his T-Phone to try and pull up a photo. "I'm sure. I have a picture of him in here somewhere." He frowned when it started malfunctioning. "Ah! Not again…"

"Errors again Don?" Leo asked his brother as Donnie was looking over the phone.

"I've tried everything to get rid of them," The tech genius was frustrated. "But nothing works."

"Hey, may I see it?" Ella offered, extending a hand.

"Sure," Don didn't think there was anyway to save the device as he handed it over to the green girl.

She looked at the error patterns on the main screen then took a small screwdriver from her pocket to unscrew the back. Taking out the large battery pack in the back, Ella flipped it around before putting it back in, then screwing the back cover on once again.

"Here you go Donnie." She gave the phone back to him, now that it was fully error free.

"Wow!" The purple masked turtle was surprised that his invention was working again. "How did you fix it?"

"The batteries were in backwards." She chuckled, putting her small pocket screwdriver away.

"Oh…" Donnie smiled in embarrassment; he hadn't thought of something so simple.

Leo looked thoughtful for a moment, "Hey Ella, were you involved in an explosion the other night?"

Ella stared at him in shock, "H-How did you know about that?"

"You said you were collecting aloe leaves for your brother," He remembered her comment from earlier. "And just a moment ago you mentioned he had gotten injured in a mission."

"What does that have to do with the explosion Leo?" Raph asked his brother.

"Sensei told me that aloe leaves are natural burn healers," Leo had asked Splinter about it yesterday when they had gotten back to the lair. "And there's no way a blast like that wouldn't leave its mark on anyone involved."

Ella looked down, she hated it when Leo put things together so quickly. At least he had that much in common with the one from her home world. "So…you saw all that…."

"Care to explain what happened?" Leo asked the girl, wanting answers. "I get the feeling you were there too."

"I'm not supposed to talk about it but…" Ella made her decision. "I like you guys so…I'll tell you what I can."

She sat down on the edge of the roof top to tell them a simplified version of events without telling them too much.

"It all started when the Kraang stole some of my uncle's designs." She refused to give them any names so Darwin wouldn't be too angry with her. "My brother, Darwin, and I followed them to their base where they were using our uncle's inventions for their own use. We couldn't just stand there and do nothing so we tried to shut it down. Unfortunately, the Kraang started shooting at everything and they hit the machine….hence the big explosion."

"Whoa…" Mikey was surprised that this girl had been in such a blast.

"How are you not burned?" Raph had to ask.

"My brother shielded me…" She huffed, both grateful and annoyed that Darwin had done that. "That idiot….I'm glad he saved us both but he injured himself badly in the process. It's going to take days for him to heal…."

"So, you are on your own out here." Leo finally understood why she was fighting alone last night….not counting Mikey.

"Yep." Ella nodded as she put her mask back on then looked up at the building above them, spying moving shadows up top. "But enough about me… I think we have company."

"Hmm?" The group turned around to look up at the approaching threat.

The Foot Ninja jumped down from the surrounding buildings to encircle the group as the five took out their weapons. Ella didn't need to guess who these ninja were, their black outfits were all the information she needed.

"Well, these guys are up early." She remarked, remembering that the Foot normally didn't operate until after ten at night.

"No kidding," Raph ended up back to back with Ella as the Foot came closer to the group. "What's got them so riled up?"

"Guess we'll have to find out." Leo's eyes narrowed at the amount of foes around them.

As the group dove into battle with the Foot Clan ninjas, across the way Karai was watching the human who was fighting with the turtles.

A slow smile appeared on her face. "Found you…daughter of Leonardo."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

**(There is an animation of part of this chapter, done by a good friend of mine named Star-candy. Go check out the animation "Oh No She Didn't" with the voices on Youtube, made by Starcandy123 )**

Taking out the normal Foot Ninja wasn't a problem for the group since Ella had faced much harder foes before and the turtles were used to the Foot Clan's attacks. However they were impressed with how skilled Ella was with her nunchaku. As the battle winded down, the Foot Clan seemed to flee and the group put their weapons away.

"Nice job Ella!" Mikey smiled at the girl.

"Thanks Mikey." She nodded to him in thanks.

A slow clap reached their ears and they turned around to see Karai standing before them.

"Yes…not bad for a half-breed." Karai smiled darkly at Ella.

"Karai…" Ella's eyes narrowed at this version of her world's current Shredder. "What do you want?"

"You know her?" Leo was surprised that Karai knew about someone like Ella.

"It's been a long time…" Ella informed him, it wasn't a lie but it wasn't the whole truth either.

"Indeed," Karai knew what the other ninja girl was talking about, and looked past her at the turtles. "And I see you already found your turtle friends."

"Again. What do you want Karai?" Ella was getting annoyed with her.

"Oh so grumpy…" Karai chuckled at Ella's gruffness. "Not too much unlike your uncle yes?"

After a moment of silent surprise Ella took a step forward as she glared at Karai. "How do you know about my family?"

"I know a lot of things." Karai wasn't about to tell her. "But I do find it odd that you use those pitiful wooden weapons instead of full on metal."

"Excuse me." Ella was getting angry with Karai's presence. "They are far more useful than anything you have."

"Oh really now?" Karai pulled out her own sword. "Show me then!"

Ella took another step forward but Mikey grabbed her arm with both hands, shaking his head. "Ella, it's not worth it."

"Listen to your friend," Karai told Ella firmly. "Cause with weapons like that you'll never be like your father!"

Ella gasped and her eyes went wide at the offense. If there was one thing she did not accept, it was when someone brought her dad into the conversation.

"NEVER." Karai repeated, seeing that it had an effect on Ella.

The rest of the group gasped, knowing that this insult was going a bit far. Ella glared at Mikey who instantly let her go and the whole group took a few steps back away from the enraged human.

"Okay…" Ella drew her nunchaku and approached Karai. "That's it!"

As she and Karai went at it, the other four stood from afar and watched. They knew that this was Ella's battle alone….but it didn't stop Mikey from snapping a photo with the T-Phone.

"Dude…. Cat fight." Mikey quietly commented as the group watched the girls fight.

Raph smirked a bit at seeing Ella holding her own against Karai. _"I'm starting to like this girl."_

_"Should I stop them?"_ Leo asked himself, but ultimately decided against it.

"Remind me never to get Ella mad." Donnie told the others, whom all nodded in agreement.

When Ella brought up her nunchaku to block once more, Karai took the moment to slice clean through the wooden weapon. This caused Ella to step back as the remnants of her beloved weapon fell to the ground. When Karai swung at Ella once again, the green girl tossed aside her other weapon to bring up a long black canvas wrapped bundle to block the sword.

Karai smiled at seeing an apparent victory. "Game over half-blood…"

"You know what…?" Ella gripped the canvas a bit tighter then quickly pulled back, cutting open the bindings with Karai's own blade. "You just entered the boss battle!"

As the fabric fell apart, Ella drew the long katana blade and came back at Karai who hadn't been expecting a secondary weapon. The swords gave off sparks whenever they met until Ella caught the enemy blade just right and sent it twirling out of Karai's hand.

"What?!" Karai was shocked that she had been beaten.

A swift kick to Karai's chest sent her to the ground and her eyes were met with the tip of the loyal katana blade.

"You…will never defeat me by trickery Karai." Ella had known of Karai's plan to make her unfocused through fury. "And my father's blade has never failed me and I'm not about to lose to someone like you."

She lowered her blade and stood back, allowing Karai to get up. "Now get out of my sight before I change my mind about leaving you unharmed."

Karai growled in frustration at Ella's skill with a katana blade. "You'll regret this, mutant. Mark my words…"

As the other female ninja left via over the roof tops, Ella carefully sheathed her father's sword.

"Yeah…" Ella sarcastically remarked, she hadn't been impressed with this Karai's threats. "I am really scared now…"

_"And…thanks Dad."_ Silently she thanked the spirit of her father that she believed still watched over her and guided her hand whenever she used the katana.

"Ella…where did you learn how to use that?" Leo had to ask, he had never seen such skill with a katana before.

"I didn't." Ella told him, knowing exactly what made her so good with it. "It's just something I inherited from my father."

She put the katana back on her back as she walked over and picked up her nunchaku. There was no hope for the broken one, it had splintered into pieces when it hit the ground. Even the hand painted turtle on the shaft was unrecognizable now. She looked up when she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry about your weapon." Mikey felt bad for her, clearly seeing how upset Ella was over losing her nunchaku. "Was it special?"

"This was a gift from my uncle when I last saw him." Ella told him, looking at the wooden practice weapon in her hands. "But that was a long time ago…"

"What happened?" Leo asked as the group gathered around her.

She shook her head, "That…is the one thing I never found out."

Mikey thought about the situation for a moment before taking out one of his own nunchaku and offering it to Ella. "You can use mine."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea Mikey," Leo told his "younger" brother. "You don't have as many replacement weapons as Donnie does."

"Gee…thanks Leo." Donnie gave his brother a look. "But true…"

"Its alright guys I can make another one." Mikey knew how to do that, all of them knew how to make another of the weapons they used. "But I don't think Ella here has access to a furnace or a forge so…" He was a little bit red in the face as he gave the green girl one of his weapons. "…here."

After a moment, Ella smiled at him. "Thanks Mikey."

"S-Sure." He looked away.

That was when a bright flash of metal flew right past the both of them, making them take a step back away from each other.

"I thought I told you to stay out of sight Ella." A familiar voice came to Ella's ears as the small shuriken fell to the ground.

"Darwin?" She turned to look over at where Darwin had been watching the whole show. "What are you doing here?!"

"Making sure you don't do something stupid." He huffed, as the pale colored turtle emerged from the darkness.

The other four turtles could only stare at Darwin in shock. This other turtle was Ella's brother?! And not only that…there were others like them in the world?

"Excuse me, YOU are the one who's injured here!" Ella was upset that Darwin had come after her in that state. "You shouldn't have left the hide out Darwin! Your shell still needs to heal!"

"I'm sorry that I got worried when I saw the Foot Clan on the move!" Her brother argued back at her, trying to get her to understand his actions.

"Yep." Donnie remarked to his own brothers as the group watched the two in front of them argue. "They're siblings alright."

"Definitely siblings." Leo nodded in agreement before stepping forward to address the twins. "If I may interrupt?"

"WHAT!?" The two spoke at the same time, glaring at Leo.

"If my opinion means anything," He remained calm although they were steamed. "Ella has a point. Its not a good idea to be moving when you have a large injury like that."

Darwin fell silent and looked away, there was no way he could argue with Leo.

Ella sighed and calmed down before she spoke to her friends once more. "I'm sorry about this you guys. I would love to hang out some more but I should really take my brother back to our hide out."

"Alright," Leo nodded to her, understanding. "We'll see you around Ella."

The group said their good byes to their new friend and her brother then headed back to the lair. Ella had her own hands full as she helped her twin back to the building they were using as their own lair.

As they were heading home, Donnie couldn't resist the chance to tease Mikey just a little bit. "I thought you said you didn't have a crush on her?"

"Shut up Donnie!" Mikey looked away as his face turned bright red.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Darwin knew Ella was mad at him, that much was clear. It was only after they got back to their hideout that he could understand his sister's outrage. He had gone out into the dangerous city while injured and risked getting seen, captured, and possibly a worse injury just to find Ella and make sure she was okay. So…not his brightest moment.

Ella would calm down though, so Darwin left her alone and went to the inner room of the building where there were no windows that anyone could see him through. Some leader he was…he didn't even trust his own sister enough to allow her to stay out on her own. Even if other versions of their family were here in this world, he still worried about Ella. Not that he ever dared to let it show.

As for Ella she set about closing the blinds on all the windows before the sun rose. That way no one would see them from the outside and the place wouldn't get blazingly hot during the day. After that was done, she was still mad at her idiot brother but not as much as before. She took to sitting down on the couch and looking at the nunchaku that Mikey had given her.

It was sweet of him to give her this, it made her smile. Maybe that was what had made Darwin throw a small shuriken at the two of them. It was just a favor between friends, why did that bother him? Shesh, he was over protective….

"Boys will be boys no matter what the species…." She muttered to herself. "Wonder if Aunt April thought the same when Dad and his brothers were around…."

She heard a click then looked down at the nunchaku in her hand. Apparently it had a hidden blade at the end of it, triggered by a button near the end of the right shaft. This would come in handy against those freaking Kraang droids that were probably looking for her and Darwin now. She didn't know the term for this kind of weapon but she did know how useful it was. For now she put the blade away and placed both the nunchaku down on the small table beside her so she could catch up on her sleep. Daytime was when young ninjas should get some sleep….even her and Darwin.

As for Mikey….he had his hands full with dodging his brother's shots at teasing him about his so called "crush" on Ella. Donnie wouldn't leave it alone and Mikey was even starting to get a bit annoyed by it…thank goodness Leo cut in before the purple masked turtle had something thrown at him.

"Alright Don that's enough," The leader of the group stopped the teasing right there. "Leave Mikey alone. I think you've made your point already anyway."

"Oh come on Leo," Donnie was slightly let down that Leo wouldn't let him have his fun. It wasn't often that he got to tease Mikey while his younger brother was ALWAYS teasing Donnie. "He's always making fun of me and April."

"Because you and your "girlfriend" are as obvious as a Kraang droid without its human suit on." Mikey muttered, retreating to a far corner.

Donnie sighed, "I wish that were the case….but she's not my girlfriend…."

Removing it from its hiding spot, Mikey took out one of his few spare nunchaku and put it with his other one on his belt. After that was done he just grabbed a tPod and climbed up on the tire swing they had over the water entrance to the lair. He needed to think on his own for a bit, which wasn't something he did normally.

So he liked their new friend, it didn't mean anything. Just because she was a kunoichi, used the same weapons he did, was also a mutant but normal-ish too, treated him like a normal person right from the moment they met, was able to beat a group of Kraang droids and Karai, and had those bright blue eyes that seemed to shine…..

He shook his head to be free of those thoughts. Just where did that train of thought think it was going?

He looked around the lair, just now noticing the others had returned to their rooms to get some sleep and he was sitting here….doing the one thing he said he wouldn't do: staying up at night and thinking about the girl that had saved his life.

"Uh-oh." He commented to himself, quietly.

—

The following evening, after making her stubborn brother promise to stay in the hideout and rest, Ella headed back to the building that they had exploded to see if there were any pieces of the teleporter left and could still be used. The reason she was doing this was because although the Kraang might have had her uncle's blueprints themselves, she had personally watched him rebuild one after Michelangelo had fried it. That was only a couple months ago but…it felt like it had been years since she had seen her real family. Back then she couldn't even face her brother without doubting herself, now she had to take a stand on her own while Darwin was injured. There was no choice in the matter, she alone had to get them home since she was the only one who knew what the teleporter was, how it worked, and how to build it.

True, this world's Donnie might be able to help but…to do that would mean she would have to reveal the truth about her and Darwin and exactly who they were. No! She couldn't do that, they'd never believe her anyway. The guys here had only known her for a couple days, that wasn't enough time to gather true trust. Sure they trusted her enough to help her in a battle but she still saw slight moments of doubt in Raph and Leo yesterday. She needed more time…but it wasn't something that she and Darwin readily had. Eventually either the guys would find out from Karai or worse…figure out that things weren't adding up in the stories she gave them.

"No, they won't find out…." She told herself as she checked the area for street goers. "Just rebuild the portal Ella….Rebuild it and go home."

Home? No…not home. Her aunt was wonderful yes but…it never really felt like home.

She dropped down into the dirty street below and headed into the burnt out shell of a building before her. The place was just a chimney, a few piles of bricks that used to be walls, and what was left of the front windows and door. She searched as her thoughts continued on.

April was usually home late because of meetings with representatives from other business, countries, planets, or galaxies. Casey had always constantly been looking for Karai after what happened to their world's version of Leonardo and his brothers. Plus when Casey and April got divorced last week, Casey had moved out. So Ella and Darwin hardly ever saw the two at all during their childhood and even now encounters were scarce. Worst of all, even though conditions had improved for aliens that lived on Earth in Ella's time…the problem was, she and Darwin weren't aliens and Ella looked almost too human. Darwin had an easier time fitting in when there was a crowd than SHE did. Ella was too strange to fit in among humans, and too humanoid to fit in among aliens. She mostly remained in their aunt's house because she (like the previous generation) had to be hidden from the world. She was lonely a lot, usually spending time with her brother over the years….at least until he shut her out. It was why her aunt had bought Ella a pet water turtle for company. The little guy had vanished from her room a couple days ago and Ella was still set on finding Max when she got back. It seemed now a days that, the little reptile was Ella's only friend at home since her own brother was only around her during missions then afterwards he locked himself in his room and wouldn't come out.

The place she called home….didn't really feel like home anymore. No…it was more like a cage that she was occasionally let out of at night. Even then, that was just her following orders from her brother who had become startlingly cold ever since they had met their real family. What had their father told Darwin that made him become like this?

She sighed as she tossed a piece of molten metal off to the side. "If it wasn't for the Kraang I would have no reason to go back….wow, never thought I would say that about something that looks like it got run over then blasted with a pink paint pop-gun."

The sound of someone nearby caused her to take cover and put her hand on her nunchaku, although she wasn't the best for fighting in a cramped space such as this.

"Whoa! This place is a wreak." That startled female voice Ella didn't recognize so her guard remained up. "Seems that new friend of yours really knows how to ruin the Kraang's day."

"Yeah," The second voice however Ella did recognize as belonging to this world's Donatello. "This place was totally engulfed in flames after the explosion. N-not that I was scared by it or anything!"

"Donnie? Is that you?" Ella called out, wanting to be sure before stepping out.

"Huh?" He looked over at where he had heard her voice before seeing the masked girl step out and he smiled. "Hey Ella! Never thought you'd come back here since, you know, your brother got hurt here."

"Meh, he'll live." She shrugged, knowing that a burned shell would take a long time to heal but it would heal. "I just came to see if there was anything left of our presence here…but luckily didn't find anything."

"That's good to hear," Said the red headed girl who stood beside Donnie, crossing her arms and seemingly making an opinion about this new kunoichi before her. "Can't be easy since your brother uses shuriken right?"

"Uh… Yeah." Ella had a guess about this girl but…she looked to be around Ella's age so….awkward. "I'm sorry, but may I ask your name?"

"April O'neil." The other girl offered her hand to Ella. "You must be Ella."

"The one and only." Under her mask, Ella was smiling as she accepted the hand shake. "I take it Donnie's not the only one who talks about me."

The violet masked turtle laughed a bit. "Well, it's not so much me as it is Mikey and Raph arguing over exactly how you beat Karai so easily."

"They won't stop talking about it." April smiled in amusement, secretly a bit jealous that this new girl had beaten Karai on her own.

Ella chuckled at the mental image, then the group had to duck out of sight as a car passed by what remained of the front windows. "Uh… Let's go somewhere that's not so out in the open. We can talk more there and on the way."

"Yeah," Donnie nodded as he looked out to watch the car pass. "Good idea."

"Follow me, I know somewhere that's safe from prying eyes." Ella knew exactly where to go.

After the car was gone Ella stood up and headed for a fire escape that made easy access to the roof tops. In a few jumps she had made it up the escape and onto the roof, she waited for the other two before heading off. She took note that this world's April seemed to be in training with the turtles and Master Splinter rather than training with Casey like Ella's aunt had back home. Thank goodness for that, hopefully this world wouldn't be so harsh on the red head in the future.

"So… Where exactly are we going?" April asked, coming up to run alongside the other girl.

"A hideout that my brother and I are currently using," It was the only safe haven that Ella had thought of. "The building seems to have been abandoned for ages and there's a lot of rooms so it's easy to avoid detection if someone does happen by. Just….try not to wake Darwin, he's trying to heal and he gets a little moody right after he wakes up."

"Is he ever in a "good" mood?" Donnie asked, since even Raph had his light hearted moments but Darwin at a first impression seemed a tad cold.

"He does at times…." Ella trailed off, more focused on getting to their location for a moment. "Over this last year he's gotten so….well, serious that I hardly ever see him crack a smile anymore."

"Hmm…." Both Donnie and April looked thoughtful about that as Ella came to a stop on an old apartment balcony.

The other two landed beside her as the girl opened the door to let them in. The group headed into the empty building and Ella put her weapons down for now.

"Welcome to our temporary home." Ella motioned around her at the apartment. "We've got the three nesasary 'M's for an abandoned building. Mice, mold, and mutants."

"I was wondering why you only had four fingers." April smiled as she took a seat in a chair that seemed to be stable.

"When were you mutated Ella?" Donnie asked as he too found a place to sit down. "That's really been bothering me. I mean… You look so human that the only thing that gives it away is your skin and hands."

"I know," Ella removed her mask and joined them. "It's easy to hide at night but I still can't go out in the daylight. As for when my brother and I were mutated….mm… I don't really know how to answer that one."

"What do you mean?" April was confused, it should've been a simple question.

"Well, Darwin and I are second generation mutants." Ella explained to her. "Our father was the original one who mutated. So…I can't really say, never thought to ask him about it."

April and Donnie looked really surprised at that answer, even exchanging a look of shock before looking back at Ella.

"And HOW old are you?" Donnie needed to do some math right now.

"Fourteen why?" Ella seemed a bit puzzled as to why this was so shocking to the two in front of her.

"So that could be anywhere from…" Donnie thought about the equation in his head before speaking the results. "Twenty to forty years ago plus your age makes it at a minimum of thirty-four years ago that your father was mutated."

"Shesh! How long have the Kraang been around?" April was floored by the thought that the aliens had been around for so long.

"A lot longer than you think…" Ella muttered, knowing all too well that the Utrom were already on earth for a LONG time even before her father's mutation…at least in her world.

"Well, I guess you could ask your father about it when you get back home." April smiled at Ella then her smile instantly vanished when she saw the sorrow in Ella's eyes. "Hey, what is it?"

"I wish I could ask him but…." Ella took a breath before finishing what she was going to say. "…its kinda hard to do that when the Shredder took your family from you."

Ella heard a light gasp from April and she saw Donnie's eyes get a bit wider in shock.

"The Shredder?" Donnie seemed a bit stunned at what Ella was saying.

The green girl nodded as she recalled what Casey had told her and Darwin. "Our grandfather, our uncles, our father, and our mother….all gone in one night's blazing inferno…."

There was a shocked silence all around since the two who were visiting had no words for what horror Ella had described.

"And….now you know why I hate Karai so much." Ella told them, never lifting her gaze from the floor. "Blindly following a real monster like that… It disgusts me."

Out of the corner of her eye, Ella saw April's fists clench in a similar fury, she could only guess at the reason why.

"It's not easy," Darwin had come out of his room when he heard Ella talking about their family. "Being the only ninjas from our clan left in town to defend what's left of what we have."

"Do you two have any family left at all?" April seemed to have a hard time getting the words out.

"We live with our aunt normally," Ella answered her. "She's more a friend than family but…it's really the closest thing we've got."

April was silent now, the twins' story sounded so much like her own. Only, the two had everything ripped from them in one night. There was no waiting period filled with hope for these two. Just, boom. Gone. April knew that kind of pain though and it still hurt. She felt Donnie's hand on her shoulder as he tried to comfort her. He knew what was going through her mind right now.

"Maybe we should go." He offered, clearly seeing the old memories coming back to haunt April.

"Yeah, you guys should get back before Leo and the others come looking for you." Darwin nodded as the visitors got to their feet.

Donnie nodded and headed back out to the balcony. However he had to wait for April who decided to speak to Ella one last time.

"Ella…" April looked at her in the face. "Next time you encounter Karai, let's make sure we're the one's bringing the fight to her okay?"

Ella chuckled then smiled at the older girl. "Sure."

Finally a slight smile reappeared on April's face before she headed back to the lair with Donnie. Ella watched them go from the window, it was nice to have friends now….even friends that she wouldn't be around for long.

"Darwin…" She had to ask him. "Do you think we could-"

"No." His firm voice told her exactly the answer she expected from him.

"But Darwin-" She turned around to make a point but was greeted by a harsh look.

"I said, no." Darwin stood firm, he knew what was going through Ella's mind right now. "We can't stay Ella. And that is final."

As he went back in his room wondering why Ella would even consider such a thing, Ella went out on to the balcony to hide her tears that had come from the sheer cold of her brother's commands.

"What's happened to us?" She wondered aloud, wiping away her silent tears then looking up at the sky for answers. "Dad…what should I do?"


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

"Wow, they didn't go very far from the blast zone did they?" Raph asked Donnie when his brother had returned with April and gave the team the update

"Not really," Don shook his head as he watched April open her laptop to do some research. "But then again, with Darwin so injured there's no way they could go very far anyway."

"Your new friends sound quite intriguing Donatello." Master Splinter had been listening to the whole report. "It seems we are not the only ones that Shredder has turned his anger against."

"Yeah," Donnie nodded his head to Splinter. "From the way Ella and Darwin told the story it wasn't too long ago that they lost their whole family."

"Yikes," Raph winced at that thought. "No wonder Ella was so bitter towards Karai when those two met up yesterday."

"I sense some history there." April interjected as she was typing away on the laptop. "Ella's not telling us the full story. Not that we need it to get the picture."

"No kidding," Leo was leaning against the wall. "Still, I hope those two are okay…from the sound of things, Ella is a little bit afraid of her brother. And that's not good in the slightest."

"Hmm…" Master Splinter looked thoughtful before noticing something. "Where has Michelangelo gone?"

"As soon as he found out where Ella lives he was out the door." Raph laughed, remembering the image of the orange masked turtle bolting out of the lair.

"She doesn't live too far from here," April spoke up before Splinter could speak his concern about one of his sons going outside on his own. "He should be fine."

Mikey wasn't going to Ella's place because he simply wanted to. No, the moment Donnie told him about Ella's nervous reaction to Darwin joining the conversation… Mikey knew something was wrong with THAT sibling relationship. He had to check up on Ella, there was no question about it.

Sure enough, the moment he got to the apartment building he could see Ella standing outside on one of the balconies alone. The headed up to where she was and the closer he got, the clearer he could hear her soft sniffles. He didn't need to be a genius like Donnie to know that Ella was crying. She had closed the door to the apartment behind her too so Darwin wouldn't hear her…had it become so bad she was even afraid to show him her tears?

Mikey sighed as he finally got up to Ella's balcony and gathering his courage, gently placed his hand on Ella's shoulder. This startled Ella and caused her to turn around to look at him, surprised to see Mikey here.

"Hey, you alright?" He mentally smacked himself for asking such an obvious question. Of course she wasn't alright! She was crying for goodness sake!

"Mikey…" Her eyes shone with the tears in her eyes.

Next thing he knew, her arms were around his neck in a tight hug as she continued to cry. Mikey expected this and gently held the distraught kuonichi for what felt like forever. He didn't mind though, it was enough for him just to be standing there comforting her as best he could. If her brother was being such a jerk as to cause her to cry like this…he would love to go in and teach Darwin some respect for Ella but… he couldn't do that without at least giving the idiot another chance.

As Ella's sobs eventually vanished, Mikey pulled back to look at the female mutant as she wiped her eyes and nose with a handkerchief she kept for just an occasion.

"Ella," Mikey gently placed his hand on Ella's shoulder to give her some confidence. "You gotta to talk to him. I know he's your bro and all but… this… this is unacceptable. I don't think your dad would want to see the two of you like this."

There was a period of silence as his words went though Ella's mind.

Then finally Ella quietly said what was on her mind. "You're right… He wouldn't have wanted us in such disarray like this. We're not a very good team if this keeps up."

"A team?" Mike tried to cheer her up a a small joke. "Nah, you guys ain't a team. More like a dynamite duo fated to blow at any time."

That got a smile and a small chuckle out of Ella as she dried her eyes. Mikey couldn't help but smile too, he had gotten a laugh out of her.

"And hey if talking to him doesn't work," He smirked as he threw a different solution out there for the humor of it. "You could always ask Raph to knock some sense into him! I guarantee you'll see results!"

"Mikey!" Ella laughed at the very idea of Raph trying to take on Darwin.

"Just a thought!" He put his hands behind his head as he faced the outside railing.

After a small moment of silence between talking to each other Ella addressed Mikey once again.

"Thanks for coming to check up on me Mikey," She smiled at him, grateful that he knew something was wrong and came by. "It really means a lot to me."

"No problem." He grinned, just happy that he had made her happy too.

Later, after Mikey had left so Ella could lecture- I mean, talk to Darwin on her own.

"Darwin! We need to talk." Ella wanted answers that she wasn't getting, and now was the time to get them.

The white shelled turtle calmly looked up from the old copy of "Hound of the Baskervilles" that he had been reading to give his sister a questioning look.

"What's with that tone of voice?" He asked her, wondering what had set off his sister's temper now.

"Oh please as if you sound any better!" She crossed her arms as she stood in the doorway. "Straight up denying my suggestion before it's even out of my mouth."

Darwin shut his book with a snap before standing up, he didn't like where this was going. "Ella, our world needs us. That is why we have to go back, that is our role to play in our time line."

"No…" Ella's eyes narrowed at him, she set aside her normally happy go lucky humor for this. "That's the role YOU want us to play! Barking orders like some kind of terrapin drill sergeant!"

"Giving commands is what a good leader is supposed to do Ella!" He snapped back, she should know that. "I'm doing just that! Being a good leader!"

The green girl scoffed before looking back at him. "Well ya could'a fooled me!"

"What are you getting at?" The turtle demanded a straight message from her.

"You tell me Mr. Cold Blooded!" Her blue eyes met his own as her voice reached a yell. "You shut me out after all! Locking yourself in your room and never letting anyone in! You practically left me to fend for myself! All alone in the O'neil Tower with no one but my pet Max for company!"

Darwin was taken aback by this new information that he hadn't even known about or thought of.

As Ella continued, fresh tears came to her eyes that ended up flowing down her face. "I can't leave regularly like you can Darwin! I am stuck in exactly the same place I've always been! The tower! You're all I have back at home Darwin! When you shut me out I had no one! No one! On our night time missions you never even speak to me except to give orders! What happened to you?! What happened to MY BROTHER?! The brother that would smile with me at the silliness of it all! The one who would comfort me during a thunder storm! How about the brother who would encourage me in a training session huh? Where is that Darwin?! I just want my brother back! Not this stranger who thinks he's Father!"

Finally her tears had become too much for her and she just stopped speaking all together. Darwin stared at his sister, the mask of calm that he had worn all this time finally falling to show his true emotion of shock and worry.

After a minute or two of nothing but Ella's sobs filling the air, she felt gentle arms pull her into a hug. She looked up in surprise at her brother who's green mask had fallen from his face.

"I'm so sorry Ella…" His voice was quiet but it held so much emotion in it that she couldn't help but listen to him. "I was so focused on trying to be a great leader like Dad that I didn't realize….how miserable you were… I'm sorry sis… I'm so…so sorry…"

Ella could feel his shoulders shaking as well, and in his voice she knew her brother was telling the truth. No words were needed anymore, so she just returned the awkward sibling hug as best she could.

"Apology accepted….you knuckle head." She smiled a bit at the frail attempt at a joke she had made.

She didn't notice but….she had gotten a smile out of Darwin too.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

It had been about a week since Ella and Darwin had come to this strange alternate timeline.

When Ella was out causing confusion for the Kraang and the Foot so that the groups wouldn't know where the two were residing now, Darwin had set about making the abandoned apartment into a proper place to stay. Removing trash and repairing broken building parts like wooden planks and stuff. He couldn't just sit around doing nothing; his shell needed to heal but he could do this at least.

Besides, Ella was still trying to make a new teleporter so they could get home plus hiding the truth of who they were from the others. Darwin at least owed her a few chores around their new home. That included "permanently borrowing" a few pizzas from the shop across the road…don't worry he returned the favor by keeping the shop free of robbers thanks to his shuriken and spot on aim. He thought it was a fair trade…and so did the shop owners apparently, for lately they had put aside a pizza every night for him after the workers had left the shop. He only did this because he and Ella had to eat something while they were here, and now he could finally understand why his father and uncles liked this stuff so much.

"Hey Darwin!" Ella's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "You ready?"

"Hmm?" He was a bit puzzled. "For what?"

She gave him a look and then he remembered, they had to see if he had healed yet or not. "Really Darwin?"

"Sorry…I forgot." He rubbed the back of his head before sitting up. "Alright, let me get these bandages off."

"At least you were good about changing them without me around." Ella smiled as she put down a roll of paper on the desk nearby, blue prints for the teleporter assumably.

"That aloe works wonders Ella." He chuckled, knowing it was thanks to her that he had such a comfortable recovery instead of wincing every time he moved over the last few days. "It really helps keep the pain down."

Darwin pulled off the last of the bandages then tossed them into a bucket nearby for washing later. He felt the gentle touch of his sister's small hand on his shoulder as she examined his shell for any lasting damage, you know since…he couldn't see it himself.

"You sore at all?" She asked him, tapping on the solid bone plates just in case.

"Not at all," If Darwin didn't hear the tap tap noise of Ella's finger on his back then he wouldn't have known what she was doing. "How's my shell look?"

Ella stepped back to get an over all look. "Well…can't say its the same as before. The plates are smoother and more…rounded in shape rather than angular like before. I guess that's just how healing bone works…"

"Guess so." He turned to face her and receive his large shuriken weapon from her. "That's alright. I'm back and we can focus on getting home now."

He heard a depressed sigh and looked up from adjusting his wrappings on his arms to see the sadness in his sister's eyes.

"Oh Ella.." He frowned a bit at seeing her like this again. "Come on, don't look like that. You know we have to go back."

His twin still kept her blue eyes on the floor, he knew she was thinking of the friends that she had made here.

"Hey, how about this," Darwin couldn't take this from her, not after learning how alone Ella really was back home. "After we're done with retrieving all of our uncle's designs from the Kraang back home….we'll come back. With April's permission of course."

"You mean that?" Ella looked up at him, her eyes filled with mixed shock and glee.

Darwin smiled that slightly crooked smile that his family was rather known for and gave his sister a nod. "It's a promise Ella."

"Oh Darwin!" She tackled him with a hug of joy. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Okay okay…" He chuckled as he pried her off of him then placed his katana in its sheath. "Come on, let's get going. We should figure out just where the Kraang are keeping Donatello's blueprints. If they had a teleporter here, chances are…they have a copy of the plans around somewhere. If we can find those plans, we can use them to get back home to our world."

He heard a giggle behind him and looked back at his sister to see her trying to hide a smile. "What?"

"Oh nothing," Ella waved it off then put her mask on as she joined him. "It's just great to have you back fearless leader."

He smiled at the term that she had used to describe him, it was the same one that their Raphael had used for Leonardo sometimes. It had been a while since he had heard it from Ella.

"Let's get moving," He jumped up onto the balcony railing before heading off with his sister following behind him. "And let's NOT get blown up this time."

"Why not?" The smirk could be heard in Ella's voice. "We're a dynamite duo after all!"

Darwin shook his head but he couldn't hide a smile at hearing Ella's goofy personality back. He also had to admit that it was much easier to just let his own emotions flow rather than hiding them all the time. He was lucky to have a sister like Ella to smack some sense into him when he started doing the wrong thing.

"Whoa!" He stopped to crouch on a ledge when he saw a gaping hole in a building far below. "Wowza, what in the world made that?"

"Judging from how the wall was MELTED," Ella huffed, crossing her arms. "I'm guessing either one of those other mutants the guys were talking about or an alien of some sort."

"It was melted…you mean by acid?" Darwin gave his sister a questioning look.

"How else?" She shrugged, she really could only guess. "That was a solid brick building bro."

"Point made and taken." He smiled at her bluntness. "Alright. Let's check it out. Can't have a monster have it's way with our parent's home now can we? No matter what world we're in."

"Nope." Ella laughed as they jumped down and entered the building through the large hole.

When they finally saw what lie within the building, Ella let out the most adorable "meep" that Darwin had ever heard from his sister. For that was the noise she made whenever she was startled by something, and it was appropriate for what they saw inside. Darwin could only guess that this ugly thing used to be a bug…or spider until it was doused with probably a large amount of mutagen. It was just a black and red large body with two smaller arms and four larger appendages on top of it. When it turned around the six eyes and slightly decayed teeth just added to the hideousness.

"Okay! That is all kinds of wrong!" Ella cringed away from the creature in disgust.

Darwin would have laughed at his twin's reaction if this wasn't already a serious matter, but he did smile then the two leapt away as a blast of acid hit the ground where they once stood.

"Yep, all kinds of wrong." Ella nodded as she repeated her claim.

"Another frog?" Growled the beast before them, mostly glaring at Darwin. "And I thought four was bad enough!"

"Hey!" Darwin was only slightly offended by the accusation. "You're not so pretty yourself there pal!"

"This thing can talk?" Ella huffed, crossing her legs as she sat on the counter of the store they were in. "Hmm. Who knew?"

There was a roar as the larger mutant slammed his four claws into the ground then launched himself at Ella, but the nimble girl just leapt aside. This left the beast to crash into the counter, spilling candy bars and soda cans every which way. Ella lightly landed beside her brother, a smirk on both their faces for this tiny store was perfect for battling this big guy.

"AURGH!" Growled the spider mutant as he got up. "I'LL MELT YOU INTO GOO! THEN we'll see if those other kung fu frogs like it!"

"Got a plan bro?" Ella grinned in the face of this raging monstrosity.

"What? You doubting me already sis…." He took out his shuriken, happy to be back in battle. "Come on, I've got an idea."

He saw his sister take out her nunchuks before the two leapt into battle together, tag teaming the creature on their own. Often getting thrown off but that was alright cause when one of them was knocked away the other would take their place.

What the trio didn't know…was that they were being watched by another group.

"Come on Leo!" Raph wanted that rematch with Vic right now. "Let's go help them! Those two have no idea what they're getting into!"

"Yeah, Darwin's still fresh out of recovery." Mikey added, not wanting to see either one of their new friends get hurt. "And Ella doesn't like bugs at all."

"Then that should add to her drive in fighting him." Leo turned that last comment into a plus. "Let's give them a chance guys. They said that they normally fight together, so I want to know just how good they really are. If they need our help, we'll jump in."

"Hmm…" Donnie made no comment, but he was watching how the ninja duo was fighting. "Darwin's style reminds me of you Leo."

"What?" Leo raised an eyebrow. "Come on, you can't be serious. We're both just leaders trying to look out for our team. Other than that I see no similarities. He uses shuriken and I use my swords."

Don fell quiet but something was nagging at him in the back of his mind and he couldn't put his finger on what it was.

"Ella!" Darwin just motioned with his hand and he and Ella fell back to a corner beside a metal support beam.

Ella knew this strategy all too well as she stood beside her brother and waited for the spider before them to make his move.

"What's wrong?" The creature grinned for he thought he had the two cornered. "Getting tired? TOO BAD!"

As Spider Bytez charged up an acid shot, Darwin and Ella held their ground. "Four…"

"Leo!" Raph urged his brother through gritted teeth.

"…three…"

"Wait…" Leo could see that Darwin and Ella were doing this on purpose.

"…two…"

"DIE!" The arachnid mutant spat out the acid at the duo before him.

"ONE!" The twins jumped out of the way and the blast hit the beam behind them.

The twins quickly got out of the way as a puzzled Spider Bytez watched them then looked back at where the acid had eaten away the support beam. A creaking noise signaled the thing giving away.

"Oh…crud." The creature winced then tried to get out of the building like the twins had.

However, his efforts were in vain as the beam buckled then fell. This brought the whole building down on top of the large mutant, burying him under a pile of rubble. Ella and Darwin caught their breath in an alley across the way as they waited a moment to make sure that the beast they had faced wasn't getting back up.

"Heh, way to bring the house down Darwin!" Ella laughed, a quick little pun was the best joke she could do right now.

"Technically a store but thanks." He smiled and held up a hand. "High four sis!"

The kunoichi was glad to oblige, meeting his hand with her own. "Yeah!"

Meanwhile, Raph was stunned at what had just happened while his brothers headed over to where Ella and Darwin now stood.

"Come on Raph," Leo smiled at seeing the stunned look on Raph's face. "Lets go say hi."

"Ella!" Mikey was the first one over there.

The girl turned around when she heard her name and she smiled under her mask at seeing who was joining them. "Hey Mikey!"

"Nice to see you guys again." Darwin nodded to the group of other turtles. "Sorry I came off a little harsh last time we met. Getting half your shell burned off will do that to ya."

"I bet." Leo could only imagine how that felt. "Clever use of tactics back there."

"Clever? More like risky!" Raphael finally joined the discussion with the twins. "How'd you know exactly when to step away and not get melted into a puddle?"

"Oh, that's just instinctual by now for me." Darwin explained to the red masked ninja. "I thank my father for training me that way."

"I picked it up from Darwin." Ella shrugged, the so called 'twin sense' was always useful like that. "Mr. Albino here wasn't talking to me much over the last year so I had to figure it out myself."

"I am NOT an albino…" Darwin growled making a disapproving face at his sister. "You know that sis…"

"Yeah but it's totally worth the look on your face." She chuckled earning herself a smack in the back of the head. "Ow! Hey…I thought Auntie told you to stop doing that."

"She's not here and can't stop me." He slightly smirked, feeling a bit better now.

"Huh, how about that?" Donnie was fasinated by the lack of pigment in Darwin's shell. "It really is solid white, I just thought the bandages were covering it up."

"I can see how you came to that conclusion." Darwin continued their discussion as they all moved a bit deeper into the alley where they couldn't be seen. "Anyway, you guys wouldn't happen to know where the Kraang's main technological base is stationed do you? Ella and I are kinda still looking for it."

"Still haven't found your uncle's designs huh?" Mikey asked Ella, quietly since he knew Darwin would be angry if he knew all that Ella had told them.

"No," Ella shook her head as she and Mikey stood apart from the group to talk amongst themselves. "And those plans are pretty important. We can't go home until we find them."

"Oh come on," Mikey chuckled at Ella's words. "As if being here is so bad?"

Ella laughed, it was hard not to be wrapped up in the positive mood that Mikey always had around him. "I guess you have a point there."

"You know…" Donnie spoke up, now remembering something he had found a short time ago. "A while back I retrieved some blueprints from a Kraang hideout because they looked human drawn and I thought they might've belonged to April's father but…she said that she had never seen them before."

"Donnie," Ella came forward since she knew the plans that they had been looking for all too well. "Did they look old? Like, drawn on blueprint paper but aged far more than they should've been?"

"Now that you mention it…" Donnie held his chin in one hand as he thought about her words. "They were! I thought it was odd but really didn't think much of it."

"Those are probably the designs we're looking for then." Ella smiled at hearing this.

"You still have them?" Darwin went straight back to focusing on the mission at hand.

"Yeah, back at the lair on my work table." He nodded to Darwin, facing the other team's leader. "I'll have to go back and get them, if you two are willing to wait."

"Why don't they come with us?" Mikey offered up then braced himself for the inevitable smack on the head from Raph. "Ow…I may have deserved that one."

"Just a little bit." Ella giggled at seeing Mikey's small yet awkward smile.

"Actually Mikey's got a point." For a change Leo agreed with the youngest of his brothers. "Master Splinter has been wanting to meet you two for himself and I'm sure it would make April happy to see Ella again."

"Yeah," Donnie was on board with this the moment the idea of seeing April smile came up. "You guys should come! It's not far."

"You sure about this?" Darwin was slightly wary, not wanting to bring any danger to them.

"Oh come on Darwin!" Ella pushed him ahead of her as the group moved over to a manhole cover. "It'll be fun! Besides we already showed them where ours is. Its only fair we get to see their home too."

"O-Okay." Darwin was still a bit unsure about this as Leo moved the cover out of the way. "But only because you say so Ella."

Ella and Raph exchanged a look as Darwin looked down into the dark tunnel below.

"Is there any way we could-" Darwin didn't get to finish for Ella and Raph just pushed the back of his shell and he fell down into the sewer with a splash.

"If sensei asks, he slipped." Raph smirked as the rest of the group just chuckled.

Ella jumped down but gripped the edge of the entrance for a brief moment so she could land on the walkways on either side of the water instead. The others dropped down as well, Leo and Raph landing in the water while Mikey and Don joined Ella. Down here, Ella could remove her mask and breathe normally.

"I. Hate. You." Mumbled Darwin as he glared at his sister from the water.

"Oh lighten up, you're fine." She stuck her tongue out at him for a moment as a tease.

"Come on! We'll show you the water entrance," Raph smiled a bit. "It's the fastest way to get there."

"Uh…" Ella looked a bit nervous. "Nah if you don't mind I would prefur to walk. Is there any other entrance?"

"Yeah, but it will take a while to get to it." Leo told her as the other three climbed up out of the water to join them. "We'll have to climb up to the surface once we get close enough."

"That's alright," The girl smiled at him. "I'll try to pick up the pace a little."

"Yeah let Ella go over land." Darwin knew the reason behind Ella's fear. "She's always been a bit skittish about water."

"I understand," Leo nodded, taking a guess at the reason why. "We'll go through the surface entrance then."

"Shall we get going?" Donnie looked back at all of them.

"Of course." Ella nodded and watched as Mikey jogged ahead a little bit.

"Right this way madame," He did his best impression of a french waiter, getting a laugh out of Ella and a roll of the eyes from Donnie. "After you."

"Oh Mikey, stop!" Ella couldn't have him doing that all the way there.

When the six mutants entered the lair the first thing that got Darwin's attention was how well lit it was despite being underground. It certainly wasn't like his family's old lair either. This lair was smaller but…some how more spacious and comforting…more home like. When he looked over at Ella, she looked just as curious about this new lair as he was.

"Welcome to the lair." Leo smiled as the twins looked around. "It's not much but…hey, it's home."

"I think it's wonderful." Darwin had to admit it was better to have this little abode than the giant tower back home.

Leo smiled at that comment then they all turned around when Splinter spoke up, having heard them come back. "That is very kind of you. Thank you."

"You are quite welcome," Darwin faced Splinter along with the others, he and Ella giving a respectful bow as a greeting. "It's a pleasure for us to be here."

"Master Splinter," Leonardo decided to give the introductions. "These are our friends, Ella and Darwin. The twins we have been telling you about. Ella, Darwin, this is our father and mentor, Hamato Yoshi or as we call him: Master Splinter."

"Ah," Splinter smiled and approached the twins himself. "So you are the two young ninjas that my sons have been speaking of. I am glad to finally have the pleasure of meeting you for myself. I see you two have a similar history as we do."

Ella consciously made to put her mask back on to hide her skin but a gentle hand from Splinter made her put it back down.

"There is no need to hide it while you are here," He told her gently, knowing the girl was shy about her odd coloration. "It's who you are, be proud of it and never let anyone tell you otherwise."

Ella looked at him for a moment before nodding in understanding. Splinter smiled and looked at both Darwin and Ella.

"I would like to speak with both of you," He told them, having noticed something about the two the moment they walked in. "Please, come with me."

The twins weren't about to argue but Ella did look back once more before just setting her mask down and following her brother and Master Splinter into a different room. The twins sat before the ninjutsu master on the mat as he spoke to both of them.

"I did not wish to say anything in front of my sons, for I know how hard you both have been trying to keep your secret from them." He knew that the two before him weren't just ordinary mutants. "A few things have not been making sense from what my sons have informed me about you. I have thought about this for a while and only one conclusion makes sense. Now I must ask the both of you…. You are not from this time are you?"

"Darwin…" Ella looked at her brother with concern.

"It's alright Ella…" He sighed, defeated once again by the wisdom of the mentor before him. "I knew we couldn't hide who we were forever."

The white shelled turtle sighed as he looked at Master Splinter. "No. We are not. We are not even of this world. Ella and I are from an alternate universe and timeline. There we are…." He exchanged a look with his sister before continuing. "…we are the children of one of your sons."

"I see…" For Splinter, it all made sense now. "I can see why you did not say anything Darwin for it is a wise decision. However, why did you decide to keep it hidden even after you had gained the trust of my sons?"

"….." Darwin looked to Ella for that answer and she was silent for a long time.

Finally she closed her eyes for a moment before answering. "Because of Mikey…I didn't want to hurt him."

"A little late for that now Ella…" The so mentioned turtle and his brothers had been listening.

"Oh no…" Darwin said quietly, when he saw what Ella had been avoiding.

All four either had looks of shock or sadness on their faces, but Mikey just looked broken as he turned to leave for his room.

"Mikey, wait!" Ella got up to go after him.

"Man….that is harsh." Donnie muttered, feeling bad for his brother.

"Darwin…" Splinter got the turtle's attention back simply by saying his name. "Perhaps you will now tell us the full truth?"

Darwin hesitated but when he looked around at all of the eyes on him, pleading to know why he and Ella had lied, he gave in. "Alright….I'll tell you everything that I know."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Mikey?" Ella gently knocked on the paper door to the upset turtle's room. "Please…I know you're in there."

Oh he was there alright, trying to pretend she wasn't right outside as he hid his tears from her.

If you don't want to talk…I understand," Ella didn't want this to have happened in the first place. "Just…just listen to me okay? There's a story that I want you to hear."

She sat down on the floor outside of his room and began to tell him her story, all of it, truthfully.

"There was once a girl who lived up in the tallest skyscraper in her city," She told him straight from the way she remembered things. "Hidden from the world by her aunt for her odd heritage which no one would tell her for many years. Too strange to go among humans, and yet too normal to even go among the alien races that had been accepted on Earth. Her only company was that of her twin brother and her pet turtle Max. One day, her uncle took her and her brother out to a far off forest where the girl could finally be outside and away from prying eyes. There, a strange vortex appeared, pulling both children into the past. Once there, they met their true family and learned who they really were: Half-mutant ninjas. While they had no idea exactly which one they were related to, the four older mutants accepted them as the family they were. The girl was trained by the youngest of the four brothers while her brother was tutored by the eldest. While timid at first she found her courage during that time with her true family so…when it came time to go home, she was determined to uphold the peace that her family had brought about. Even though their uncle and aunt told them their father was the eldest of the brothers that they had met, there was still something missing. As her own brother shut her out for a time and her pet having suddenly vanished in one night…the girl was alone."

There was a still silence when Ella stopped, now having pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

"Look Mikey," The green girl just stared at the floor in front of her. "Just because my uncle is your double back home, doesn't mean I see you like that. Now I don't want that to sound weird cause it's not meant to. What I mean is…." She sighed, why did talking to him suddenly become so hard. "…ever since I came here, I've had the greatest best friend a girl could ever ask for. So….if its alright with you if I ask…. Can we still be best friends?"

There was a short stillness and taking that as a sign that Mikey still needed some time to himself, a heavy hearted Ella got up to return to the others. However her clumsy nature caused her to trip on part of the floor and she was caught by gentle hands. Looking up she saw the familiar face of Mikey, there was still a bit of pain in his eyes but had a small smile now thanks to her.

"Yeah…" He told her, answering her question from earlier as he helped her stand up. "I think I can do that."

"I'm glad to hear you say that." She smiled at him, thankful to have her friend back. "And I'm sorry for not telling you…"

"Hey don't be like that," He did his best to keep her spirits high too. "You were just trying to protect me and that I can understand."

Ella nodded in agreement, that really was all she was trying to do.

"Awkward friendship hug?" Mikey asked her, holding his arms out a bit.

"Awkward friendship hug." She agreed, allowing the turtle into a kind embrace which she returned.

When the two rejoined the others, Darwin had already set up the small hologram projector that April had given him for times like this to help the twins tell their story for anyone who cared to listen. The projector itself was a small round device stuck in the middle of a shuriken, so it would be well balanced and wouldn't roll away while one was talking. Also, it fit in well with the multiple small ninja stars that Darwin kept on his belt.

"Hey you two." Leo treaded carefully with his words when he saw Ella and Mikey rejoining the group. "Everything alright?"

"Well…things will be okay in time." Mikey told him, sitting down beside his brothers. "For now let's just listen to the story."

"Okay then," Darwin spoke up as Ella came to his side. "I guess we should start at the very beginning with our family's history."

The projector started up and brought up the 3-D image of their world's version of Master Yoshi, someone the twins never had the pleasure of meeting for themselves.

"Whoa…" Donnie stared at the device in awe, even sticking his hand through the image to make sure it was just a picture. "Okay now that is pretty cool."

Leo made his brother put his hand down as Darwin began to tell them his story. "As you can guess, this is our world's version of Master Yoshi. Unfortunately, we never had the pleasure of meeting him for ourselves. You see, in our timeline…Master Yoshi and Master Splinter were two completely different people. That's not to say they didn't know each other…"

The image of the old grey rat came up when Darwin had mentioned his grandfather.

"Our grandfather was Master Yoshi's pet rat for many years," Ella took her turn to tell part of the story. "By watching and copying his master, Splinter learned ninjutsu on his own. However…this all changed the day Yoshi was attacked in his dojo by both the Shredder and the Purple Dragons. Splinter even tried to help, leaving the leader of the Dragons with a nasty scar over his eye but ultimately he was thrown aside and we all lost Master Yoshi that day at the hands of the Shredder."

The four brothers who had been listening intently to the twins, now had mixed looks of surprise and sadness. As for their sensei, he simply seemed more interested in this story now as the image of the alternate world Yoshi vanished replaced with the image of a small jar with a familiar sight within.

"After our grandfather escaped from the dojo that night, he encountered something on the street right afterwards." Darwin looked at the pet baby turtles within the jar. "An accident with a transport truck containing what you all know was mutagen. Now, the kid who had been holding the jar you see before you dropped it and the four baby turtles were washed down into the sewer along with the container of mutagen. Our Master Splinter went after them and by saving them he also came into contact with the mutagen. You guys pretty much know what happened after that."

"Wow," Leo blinked at the vast differences between what they knew and the twins story. "You weren't kidding about the alternate timeline."

"Wait, what about April?" Donnie had to know how her story played out in their world.

"She's the one that Darwin and I have been living with all this time." Ella smiled as the images vanished replaced with one of the twins dear aunt. "Our family met her back when Baxter Stockman's robots called Mousers decided to attack both her and our family. Took a while for her to get used to their appearance but she was willing to listen to Grandfather. She became a reliable ally for the rest of their lives. Using her antique store as a safe haven for whenever our family was driven out of their lair temporarily, which happened more often than you might think."

"As the years went on, she became well known for the inventions that she and a certain uncle of ours made." Darwin smirked a bit as he glanced over at Donatello to make his point. "This caused the rise of her own company called O'Neil Tech. Ella and I usually live in the business tower's top floor where only family members are allowed. While she and Casey Jones were a married couple for many years-"

"WHAT?!" Donnie looked shocked at that bit of news while Mikey burst out laughing.

"Don't interrupt." Splinter looked at his sons to get them to fall quiet again.

"Hai sensei." The group of four nodded and Mikey did his best to stop laughing.

"As I was saying," Darwin wasn't deterred at all by the interruption. "While April and Casey were married for a time…a short time ago they got a divorce since Casey's immaturity finally hit its limit with April."

"Lawyers, court room, custody battle over the company," Ella gave just a few examples. "Not pretty."

"And your family?" Splinter asked the twins, wanting to know the truth of their background. "Donatello mentioned that your world's Shredder had slain them as well."

"Indeed…" Darwin sighed as the image before them changed to one of the dark menacing figure of their world's Shredder. "But it wasn't the Shredder you all are thinking of… That Shredder was banished to an icy asteroid a long time ago. No…the Shredder we speak of is…."

He instantly fell quiet when he sensed the radiating hatred from his sister. He turned to look at her as she glared at the image that took the place of the Shredder, never before had Ella looked so similar to the person they were speaking of.

"Karai…." Ella practically hissed her enemy's name. "She not only gained his skill but also took up the title that came with leading the Foot Clan. She's the one to blame for the two of us being the only ones of our family left. The two of us were still newborns when it happened. We were lucky to have been staying overnight at April's by our father's request when they were attacked. Some times I wonder if he knew what was coming…"

"Ella…" Darwin sighed at seeing such hatred in his normally kind twin. "Please…Foot Clan hasn't been active in years. You can't keep that hatred in your heart it will just lead to more hatred."

"Well I'm not about to forgive her either!" Ella huffed her response before looking back at the image before her. "I know she was our family's ally for a long time Darwin. But….something like this just can't be forgiven so easily."

"Well, that explains the rage you showed when you met Karai here." Raph remembered that time all too well.

Splinter nodded in agreement. "Ella, your brother has a point. Vengeance only leads to more vengeance. Miwa will learn that for herself but…please try not to fall into that kind of life as well."

"Wait…" Darwin looked up as he put the projector away. "Who? That's not a name we know."

"You're kidding right?" Mikey was surprised.

"Again, we're from an alternate universe Mikey," The green masked turtle reminded him. "Not everyone you know will exist in our world."

"Miwa, was my daughter back when I was still a human." Master Splinter spoke up to tell the twins part of his story…something that he felt the two needed to hear. "I thought she was dead when Shredder destroyed my home and killed my wife….but recently I learned the truth. Oroku Saki kidnapped her and raised her as his own daughter….telling her lies all her life Miwa grew to hate me and blame me for her mother's death. She even changed her name to Karai."

"Wh-at?" Ella's voice was surprisingly dark as she added a bit of emphasis on the last part of that word.

"Yeah, Karai's our sister…more or less." Leo explained a bit frightened by what Ella might do.

Instantly Ella stood up and left the room. No one was brave enough to go after her, they just decided to let her blow off some steam outside on her own.

"Whew…" Darwin breathed out in relief as his sister left the lair to go cool down. "There's a hidden darkness in my sister that no one likes to see."

Master Splinter, having seen and heard enough, dismissed the rest of them and the boys went into the main room to talk further amongst themselves.

"So…." Mike had something else to ask the turtle from the alternate future. "On another note. Darwin who was your Dad? In your world anyway."

"I'm guessing Donnie." Raph smirked earning a look from his brainiac brother.

Darwin chuckled at this and mostly at the look on Donatello's face. "If you guys have to ask then you haven't been paying very much attention."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked the younger leader.

The pale colored turtle smirked and turned around to show them the katana that he also carried on his back. "Ella and I don't each carry a katana for nothing."

The blue masked leader looked a bit confused for a moment before the reality hit him. "Oh…"

"Well, that explains a lot." Raph crossed his arms at this information.

"Duuuude," Mikey nudged Leo a bit with his arm. "You get a girlfriend!"

"Hey! Shut up!" Leo instantly went on the defensive. "This is another timeline and universe we're talking about. Don't go making assumptions like that."

They all laughed at his expense while outside on a rooftop Ella's bitterness and hatred towards Karai over powered this new information. She didn't care if this was an alternate universe and timeline…it didn't matter if Master Yoshi had told her this himself…Ella refused to accept Karai as being part of her family! It was unacceptable! Not after everything Karai had done to them! To her!

"Even if that was true back home," She growled to the air around her, fists clenching. "I would never consider her family."

She looked up at the sky above her. "Father…I know you would be disappointed in my behavior. But…even you warned her to stay away from our family. She betrayed that trust…I will never forgive her for taking you from us. Even though…" Her rage at Karai was replaced by the sorrow of losing her family. "….I just can't understand why… Why would Karai do that? Hadn't she let her grudge against you go years ago? So…why? Why **then**?"

She refused to break down crying but a few silent tears were shed by the half-mutant as she tried to hold back her remorse for losing her family. She quickly wiped them off of her face and out of her eyes.

"Control yourself Ella," She commanded herself. "Now is not the time to feel sorry for your past. You know who's really to blame."

"Talking to yourself?" That voice was the last one she wanted to hear right now. "Well, there's one thing you share with your father."

"Karai…" Ella gave off the bold warning tone as she drew her katana right from the beginning. "You picked a VERY bad time to pester me."

"Its just nice to have challenge for a change." Karai smirked as she faced the new girl. "Even if you are from a world away. So… How about a one on one up here? Just us girls?"

"On any other day…I would refuse." Ella took her stance, her blade at her side. "But today I say…" Her eyes narrowed at the kunoichi that stood before her. "…try your best. It's time to see what I can do with this blade."

"Heh," Karai grinned as she drew her own blade and jumped down to face Ella for herself. "This will be fun…daughter of Leo."

"My name is Ella," The other glared at her enemy with ice cold eyes. "You'd be wise to remember it…" She smirked as she decided to prove that she knew Karai's past now too. "…Miwa."

Karai growled at hearing that name then headed into attack which was met with Ella's blade.

"You know nothing!" The Foot ninja hissed at the black masked girl before her, separated only by their blades. "You have no idea of the feeling loss I have had to go through!"

"Loss?" Ella was just angered even more by that as she pushed Karai off of her blade. "You don't know the meaning of the word…"

Back in the lair, Darwin was starting to get worried about his sister as Donnie dug through the pile of designs in his work area in the garage to find the ones that he was telling Ella about.

"Where is she?" He looked out at entrance to see if his sister had come back yet.

"Dude, just let her calm down." Mikey wasn't too worried. "She's just upset. She'll calm down."

"I don't know…" Darwin had a bad feeling about this. "Something just doesn't feel right…"

Raph rolled his eyes and headed into the back room while Leo watched Darwin for a little bit. He didn't say anything, but he was impressed at how Darwin always seemed to know when his sister needed a hand. The first time they had met this turtle, even though Darwin had been badly injured… He had come to check up on Ella after the Foot had attacked the whole group. And even before that, Ella had said that it was Darwin who had shielded her from the explosion and that was how he had gotten so injured in the first place.

On a first impression, Leo had thought that Darwin was just over protective over his sister but…the more he thought about it the more that he realized just how great of a leader Darwin was. His ways were just…different than Leo's.

"I'm gonna go find her," Darwin stood up, grabbing his shuriken which he had set down earlier. "Something's just not right."

"I'll come with you." Leo picked up his katanas. "Family is family regardless of the world you're from."

Darwin nodded his thanks before the two headed out to find Ella. Later, Darwin would wish that they had left sooner…

Ella and Karai were both at a seemingly even match with their blades, however their blows were steadily getting harsher and more focused. It was growing into less of a friendly battle and more into a grudge match between two hate filled warriors.

"How can you follow him?" Karai demanded of this other bitter ninja. "After he killed my mother! How can you trust any of them?"

"You forget Karai…" She pushed the other one away from her with a sideway kick. "I don't follow Yoshi. You'll be pleased to know that the one that belonged in my world died a LONG time ago."

"Humph," She got to her feet to face Ella once more. "That's the first good news I've heard in weeks."

She quickly had to block the katana blade as Ella brought it back down on her once more. "But it still doesn't change what he's done!"

"You are a fool Karai!" Ella growled at her as her strength was mostly put into holding this position as she spoke with the other one. "You only lost your mother….I lost my whole family at your blade!"

The moment the shock of hearing that came upon Karai's face, Ella knocked the sword out of her rival's hands and her own came up to rest just before Karai's neck.

"I could do it you know…" Ella's bitterness towards this person certainly showed through. "Make things easier for my family here."

Karai laughed a bit, finally someone who understood her hatred. "You won't do that…you like the challenge too much."

Ella remained silent as she listened to this version of Karai, curious as to how her logic worked. Behind her, Darwin and Leo had finally found her and they were horrified by the sight they were greeted by.

"Ella don't!" Darwin ordered his sister but not even he could turn Ella's focused gaze away from being locked with Karai's.

"Yes, I do like a challenge." She calmly answered the previous statement from the Foot ninja before her. "However…the is not the only reason why I don't wish harm upon you. For you are not the one responsible for the deaths of my family. That weight falls upon the one in my universe."

She raised her blade from it's resting point on the other's throat before taking some steps back to allow Karai to leave.

"Go. Before my rage gets the better of me again." She told the other, also secretly thankful that Karai had actually helped her calm down a little and see things clearly.

As the other recovered her own blade, Karai chuckled. "You are full of surprises half-blood. I never thought I would meet someone so much like myself."

"Just go!" Ella growled at her, earning herself a dark smile before the other left over the rooftops.

Darwin and Leonardo were unsure of what just happened but the pale colored one of the two walked over to his sister and gently took her sword from her hand. "Come on Ella… Let's go back."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

"How long have they been out there?" Raphael asked Donnie as the group quietly listened in on the discussion going on outside.

"A couple minutes or so." The techie turtle told his brother in a hushed voice. "Darwin seems really upset…"

"Yeah…It's weird." For Mikey, seeing the pale turtle losing his cool was strange.

"Guys be quiet," Leo reminded them, shooting his brothers a look. "We don't want them to know we're listening."

"We shouldn't be listening in the first place," April objected, having joined them in the lair when Leo and Darwin were retrieving Ella. "But even I'm worried….they seem to argue a lot when they think we can't hear them."

"Hush, Ella's saying something." The leader of the team tried again to get everyone to be quiet and this time it worked.

"I wasn't going to hurt her Darwin," Ella was trying to explain her actions to her brother outside the lair; they didn't want to worry their friends with another small sibling argument. "She's not from our world so why would I even think about doing something like that?"

"Ella, your anger can get a bit out of hand some times." Darwin knew that truth, it was one of the few things that he and his sister actually shared when it came to personality. "I didn't want to see that side of you cause something you'd regret."

"Hey, have you seen yourself when YOU go berserk?" Ella crossed her arms. "It's not pretty either."

"Okay. I get it!" Darwin cut off the conversation there and sighed, holding his head in one hand. "I'm sorry, I know I should have more faith in you sis but….it's just…."

"You're trying too hard to be like Dad." She knew what made him like this already. "Yeah, you told me that."

"I don't want to lose the only real family I have left Ella." Darwin admitted to her. "You are all I have left too, you know."

She watched as her terrapin brother sat down on a wooden box in the alley as they both calmed down. Darwin wrapped one of the lines of cloth from his mask around his hand as he rubbed the old fabric between his thumb and fore finger.

"This mask that our father gave me…" Darwin looked a bit lost in memory. "I still remember that last moment we spent with him and our family clearly." He looked up above them, between the buildings and at the stars. "All I ever wanted was to make him proud of us and all we could accomplish."

"Darwin…" Ella smiled sadly as she walked over and sat down beside her brother. "We don't need to do anything really spectacular for Father to be proud of of us."

He looked at her, a curious look on his face as he listened to her.

"I know that Father would be proud of us…just for being us." The kunoichi leaned back against the wall as she recalled her own memories of being with their family. "We can't be like our father was, Darwin; we can only be like us. That is what he would be proud of….just being us."

Darwin had to think about that for a moment. It was true that their father loved his family more than anything, that wouldn't have changed if he was still with them.

"He would have thought we were crazy to even try taking on an alien race on our own," Darwin laughed at the thought of what their father would have said had he known the trouble that the twins had gotten into. "And lets not forget battling an acid spitting spider mutant in a tiny grocery store and you facing Karai not once but TWICE."

"And winning!" Ella threw her fists in the air with a grin. "Oh who are we kidding? Sure, he would have scolded us for going in unprepared AND getting spotted by Foot Clan but…we both know that he would have wanted to know how the battle went."

"He would've liked that," The idea of a life that could have been made Darwin smile saddly. "Giving us lessons on how to make the next time cleaner and more stealthy. That's just the way he was. Kicking you down to help you stand up even taller from it."

"Sounds to me like your dad was a great guy," Upon hearing April's voice the twins looked up to see that their friends had come out to speak to them.

"He was," Darwin straightened his posture slightly as he addressed the human that stood before him. "Father trained me himself in the short time we spent with him and our family. Perhaps his teachings are the reason why I worry so much although for good reason."

"Let's go back indoors," Leo offered, wanting to hear more about this other Leonardo but not wanting them all to be seen when the sun rose. "We can talk more once inside."

"Agreed." Darwin stood then headed inside, watching out of the corner of his eyes as Mikey offered Ella a gentle hand.

When the jokester helped the half-mutant to her feet, she thanked him with a smile and the two headed indoors together. The group sat down in the main area to hear more about the Leonardo that the twins called "Father" and just who he was.

"So what was your Dad like?" Raph decided to be the one who asked first.

"Above all else he valued his family and their safety," Ella told them all, her gaze met with curious minds and undivided attention. "He even took some time away from them to train on his own in Japan when his failure to protect them from the Shredder once nearly cost him his sanity. He briefly lost sight of the distinction between foe and ally. For that, he removed himself from being around those he cared about in order to better himself."

"Shesh…and I thought Raph had anger issues." Mikey commented jutting a thumb at his brother beside him.

"Hey!" Raph objected but he knew it was true.

"Yes, as did our uncle have his share of aggression towards all threats," Darwin nodded as he placed his blade and large shuriken down on the ground before him. "But it was nothing compared to what happened when our father lost his calm mind. However, by leaving and training with the master they called the Ancient One…our father learned more than Splinter could have ever taught him. When he returned from the journey, he proved to be a better warrior than both Karai and the Shedder. He proved this many times. Wether it was by blade, mind, or something even more sacred and powerful: chi."

"Chi?" April had not heard of that term before. "What is that?"

"It is the energy of the life force that flows through everyone and every living thing." Ella explained to the other girl. "According to the stories of our family that we have heard, chi is a power that only the highly skilled can control and use themselves. Legend has it that our father's chi could manifest as a dragon in battle. However we don't actually believe that bit…for chi is just a way of adjusting one's life force in order to fight longer or endure things that normally would be fatal."

"If we could show you ourselves we would," The one thing that Darwin wished he knew how to call upon was the chi within himself and his sister. "However…we do not own such powerful chi. It would take us years to even come close to what our father had."

"Darwin…" Ella looked at him in annoyance. "Such chi as that was unheard of before Dad showed up. The chances of that happening again are slim to none even in those blood related to him."

"Oh yeah." Darwin rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment of forgetting that fact.

"Sounds far fetched to me." Donnie crossed his arms upon hearing about this, his scientific mind refusing to believe it.

"I guess it does," Ella laughed at hearing this come from her friends. "But so does quite a few things in our lives."

"For example?" Mikey asked a bit curious.

"Example?" Raph was surprised at that stupid question. "How about…oh I don't know, OUR VERY EXISTANCE?!"

"Oh right." It seemed Mikey forgot that the four of them weren't normal people some times.

Everyone but the two who had spoken let out a few chuckles at watching the exchange. Soon however, Ella spoke up again.

"Anyway," She got them all back on topic. "For as great a warrior as our father was….I fear that twenty or more years of fighting both earthly and extra terrestrial threats may have took its toll on him and his brothers."

Her eyes returned to the floor and they glossed over with the very thought of what had happened to her family.

"For all their strength and skill," Her hands clenched as she could clearly visualize what had happened that night. "They couldn't save themselves from that harpy nor the cruel hands of fate. I just…." She closed her eyes tightly as tears threatened to come once more to her. "I just wish….I knew WHY… Karai was their ally! Their friend for so many years…..so why then? Why the sudden change?"

Darwin got up to go comfort his sister but April and Mikey reacted first to the green girl's sorrow. For Mikey simply put an arm around Ella which caused her to hug him tightly for comfort, not that he seemed to mind at all. As for April, she gently placed a hand on the other girl's shoulder blade to remind her that she wasn't alone in this.

"There now sis," Darwin gently took his sister from Mikey so she could cry without making the other mutant uncomfortable.

"I….I miss them…." Ella sobbed into her brother's shoulder as she tried to speak. "I miss them so much Darwin!"

"I know sis…" He hugged her close as the others joined them in comforting Ella with a group hug. "I do too…"

Mikey could only imagine the pain that was in Ella's heart. Her rage at Karai and her openness to aid others showed the proof of her hidden fear of losing anyone else. Now that he thought about, that fear was something that drove himself and his brothers as well. That fear had been with all of them from the moment they fought the Shredder for the first time. Now…he could see the worse effects of what happened when that fear came true. He made a secret promise that Ella wouldn't lose anyone here, not for as long as she was here.

It took a while for them to revive Ella's confidence enough to have her take a look at the blueprints that Donnie had found. The group moved to the garage, not that all of them needed to but they felt they had to for Ella's sake.

"Here they are Ella." Donnie took out the roll of papers and brought them over to the work desk where the rest of the team was waiting. "I took a look at them but it seems to only show the parts so I'm a bit confused as to what it's supposed to be."

"That's because you haven't thought like yourself Donnie," Ella rolled her eyes as she took the plans from him and placed them on the desk. "Just spread them out."

Donnie walked over to do as she suggested and April placed paper weights on each of the corners of the papers so they could all see what it was. Once the papers were weighted down, the lines of white charcoal on each page showed through and revealed the true form of the structure drawn on the plans.

"Whoa," Raph was shocked by the very appearance of the structure for it was so futuristic looking. "What is that thing?"

"That Raphael," Darwin spoke up to describe it. "is a teleporter capable of spanning both time and dimensions. The Kraang have been using these designs for who knows how long. Thank goodness you guys recovered them before more damage could be done."

"So that's how you guys got here." April finally put the pieces together. "The device that exploded on you two was one of these things."

"Exactly," The other girl nodded to her then looked back at the designs on the desk. "However, it is also the only way that Darwin and I can get home."

"Think you guys can help us?" Darwin asked the group, knowing that they couldn't get home on their own.

"Sure! As soon as I figure out exactly what's needed for this thing." Donnie held his chin with a hand as he pondered the design of the teleporter.

"I can help with that Donnie," Ella spoke up for she was also a bit of the brainiac. "I watched my uncle rebuild one of these when Uncle Mike fried it. The only part we really need to worry about is the power source but the rest of these are easily available."

"Hold on," Raph had one concern about all this. "While you nerds are darting about getting scraps…we are forgetting about the Kraang and the Foot Clan. How are we gonna decode their computers without Donnie?"

"Let me handle that." April spoke up with a smirk. "Donnie shows me how to work a LOT of his inventions. I can use those and get us in to any computer or locked room. Handy little devices you make Don."

Donnie went a bit pink when April told them all that. "Th-Thanks April."

"Hmm…" No one noticed Ella's mischievous smirk at seeing Donnie's interactions with April.

"And as for being in battle," Darwin came forward as he knew April wasn't ready to be fighting with large amounts of Kraang bots or Foot ninjas. "I'll fill in for Donnie. I have no problem following orders from another."

"Very well then," Leo walked over now that they all had agreed on a plan. "Donnie, you and Ella will search for the parts you need and build the machine back at the twins' apartment building. There's more room there and less of a chance for it to break because of our training sessions…or Mikey."

"Hey…." Mikey shot his brother a look only to get the gentle hand of Ella on his shoulder.

"He's just teasing." She comforted him with a smile before Leo continued.

"As for the rest of us," Leo looked at the remainder of the group. "We will take care of the Kraang and the Foot Clan as normal."

"Sounds good." Raph nodded and they all headed out of the garage.

"You two should get back to your hideout." Leo advised the twins that were now also under his command for a time. "The sun will be up in a few hours. And April don't you have school in the morning?"

"Nah, it's the weekend." April shook her head. "But I should get back anyway. I'll follow Darwin and Ella until I get there."

"Okay…" Donnie seemed a bit hesitant to let April go off with two others, even those he trusted. "S-See you tomorrow April!"

"Bye!" She waved a bit as she headed outside where Darwin was waiting for the girls.

Ella's giggle made Donnie look back at her and his brothers. "What?"

"You two are so fun to watch," Ella smirked as she walked past the lovestruck turtle. "It's adorable."

"I…I have no idea what you're talking about." Donnie pretended not to understand what Ella was implying.

"Sure." She laughed as she headed out to join the others. "Whatever you say Romeo."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

So…Ella's family secret was bigger than Mikey had thought. It had hurt when he found out but…not as much as he thought it should. He still often found himself tongue tied when she was around and enjoyed Ella's company more than anyone else's. It wasn't like…a broken heart, no that was still intact. It was more like, he was hurt by the fact she hadn't had the courage to tell him straight. Yet at the same time, he understood now that he had heard her lonely tale. What Ella feared most, was losing those she cared about and he was one of those people that the half-mutant didn't want to lose. She had said it herself, he was her best friend and she didn't want to break that bond.

Mikey found that he still loved Ella, but why? It was a fool's dream now… Donnie had a better chance with April than Mikey did with Ella. Part of him kept telling himself that this was wrong, and awkward….but another side kept reminding him that all Ella's family had in common with his own was names and circumstances. The rest of it….time period, DNA, mutagen, everything….it was all vastly different. He was at odds with himself about the whole thing.

The best choice of action he decided was to just, keep it hidden. Even more than before, it was bitter-sweet but…it really was for the best. He had to just wait and let it go. However…Mikey had a sneaking suspicion that it would take a LOT longer than he thought.

As he watched her leave with a bag on her back and Donnie leading the way to go find parts for the machine that would take her home, the mischievous side of him made a mental note to "accidentally" break whatever the two got done later….just so he could have a little more time. Just…just a little more time.

"Hey Mikey," April's hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. "You alright?"

"Yeah," He smiled a big grin to hide his earlier depression. "I'm great! Why wouldn't I be? Come on let's get going!"

He hurried over to his brothers who were briefing Darwin on their city's current situation. April however crossed her arms, she didn't think Mikey was okay at all. Still, she regrouped with the others so they could all go on their mission.

Darwin had no problem staying silent long enough to listen to Leo's plans for the night. Mostly scouting out old haunts of their enemies to find out their next course of action. Hey, when you are working with only a handful of members in a clan, it was more than what Darwin usually worked with.

"So here's the deal Darwin," Leo spoke directly to the pale turtle, slightly concerned that the other's coloration would alert their enemies when they were trying to be stealthy. "We think the Kraang have set up another of those teleporting devices in a building just down the road. We already know have to shut it down but we also have to gather information about whatever the Kraang are planning next."

"What do you want me to do?" Darwin asked Leo, arms crossed patiently waiting for his assignment.

"Stick with April," Leo knew the risk they were taking bringing her along and didn't want the trainee unprotected. "The Kraang will be targeting her like they always do. I need you to back her up if any trouble comes up."

"Why do they go after you?" Darwin raised an eyebrow ridge as he looked at April for answers.

"I have no idea." She shrugged, not really knowing herself. "They took my dad before but now….." She trailed off for a moment, obviously not wanting to talk about what happened to her father. "I think maybe they believe that I have some kind of information that he couldn't give them."

"Fair enough." Darwin put his hands behind his head but didn't argue.

"Alright then," Leo turned and looked out at the roof tops before them. "Let's get going."

The group headed off together, Darwin keeping an eye on April just incase the kunoichi couldn't make a particular jump…which actually happened a few times and he had to pull her up. She acted tough about it, like she didn't actually need his help when he knew for a fact she did. He just rolled his eyes and continued on, she was a lot like his twin sister. Speaking of the green skinned girl, he hoped that she would be alright tonight with only Donnie as assistance.

Ella followed Donnie as best she could, good thing she had a lot of practice for he was a lot faster than she had thought he would be. Not that she had trouble keeping up…she just valued the moments they stopped to catch their breath a bit more.

"You okay Ella?" Donnie looked back at her during one of the short breaks. "I could slow down a bit if you're getting tired."

"I'm fine." She insisted through pants of taking in the cold air. "I'm just new to the whole jumping across rooftops and such."

"Didn't you have to do that in your world?" He asked, curious about this idea of other worlds beyond his own.

"Oh sure," She nodded with a smile. "But we never had to go very far horizontally. The different levels of the city are practically stacked on top of each other. So we usually had to go down a few levels to get where we needed to be."

There was a moment of silence as Donnie tried to imagine a city with different layers but it proved a tad odd when his mental image was done. He gave up on the effort and looked around to gather his bearings.

"Okay, we're not far now." He was glad for that cause he didn't think Ella could take much longer of all this running around. "Come on Ella, we're almost to the scrap yard."

"Thank the tribunal…" He heard her sigh behind him before the two of them headed to the scrapyard.

As they landed Ella passed him a list of the parts they would need and handed him an extra bag that she had brought along for this.

"Focus mainly on circuitry," He advised her as they separated to look around the mounds of metal parts. "The main build and wiring we'll get to later."

As they looked around Donnie had the mind to ask her all the questions that had been building up in the back of his head. He had quite a few of them but it never seemed like the right time to ask them.

"So…about this other world of yours," He started off with what he was the most curious about. "Just…how far in the future is it exactly?"

"The year is 2036 back home," Ella explained to him as she examined an old computer for usable circuit boards. "The world is…very different. Once aliens finally made themselves known to the world, everyone began accepting the different kinds of beings out there….including my father and his family."

"And yet…you still have to hide?" Donnie glanced back at her as he put an old hard drive in his bag.

He knew he had hit a sore spot when she took a moment to respond. "Y-Yes, or rather…I do. You see Donnie, most people that see creatures like giant turtles or triceratops warriors just assume that they are aliens from another galaxy and move along. Trouble is…neither Darwin nor myself are aliens. For me…I'm too much…in the middle. Too human and at the same time, too odd. I actually stand out in a crowd back home, more so than my twin. Thus, April makes sure that I stay in the penthouse where only those that we can trust are allowed. Meanwhile, Darwin can go out and gather information or just run errands for our aunt."

"Oh," He was grateful for the details but at the same time he could relate. "I'm sorry Ella."

She waved a hand, dismissing his sorrow for her. "Its fine, I'm used to it by now."

"Alright then…" He paused in his search as he decided to change the subject. "Umm…so what's it like? Living amongst aliens and such?"

"It's the same as any other city," She shrugged, it wasn't that different than being here. "Strange names take time to pronounce correctly and you have to learn to stop from staring at everyone but…I never really had the chance to meet any aliens personally."

"Oh…right." He laughed, a bit embarrassed now.

He looked down at the materials he had gathered and, deciding it was a good start for tonight, closed the zipper on top of the bag. He walked over to Ella to watch as she got the last of what she needed before they left. Now that he had the chance to look at the girl, he could see why his brother had fallen so hard. His own heart remained with April of course but, he could understand why Mikey had gathered a crush for this half mutant before him.

Ella's hands were as small as a normal human's hands, yet the four fingers under the black gloves reminded him of the fact that she was half mutant turtle as well. Such small digits worked quickly and more precisely as she sorted through metal parts, he had seen this in battle and he was seeing it again here. She had done stuff like this before, that much was clear. He had a feeling that as they worked together he would see more of the hidden brilliance that Ella kept secret.

"Well, that should do it for me," He smiled as he stood just behind her.

"I've almost got everything I need too," She smirked but it faded as she pulled apart a hard drive to get what she needed. "Just a few more pieces and then we can head back."

"One last question though?" He held up a finger to the air as if partially raising his hand for her permission.

"Yeah?" She allowed him to continue as she placed some wires in her bag.

"I've noticed that you and your brother talk about your dad a lot," He knew this was probably a bitter question to ask. "But…what about your mom?"

"Our mom?" Ella blinked, she had never really thought about that before. "To be honest Donnie… I never really thought much about her."

"Oh?" He looked over at her, a bit surprised.

"It just never came up…" Ella felt a bit guilty now, as she tried to figure out why she never even considered who her mom might have been. "We learned to stop asking about our parents early on and…finding out about our father was a surprise to us. However, the question of who our mother was never came up."

"I understand," He let the subject drop, seeing that Ella really had nothing but her own questions now.

He took a step back as he saw the half-human rise up from her formerly crouched position. Ella turned to look back at Donnie and nodded, signaling that she was ready to go back now. He had given her a lot to think about on the way back.

Later that evening…

Mikey winced from the cut on his arm and the stinging scrapes on his hands. He and the rest of the group had been scouting out the area to see what the Kraang were up to…but it was an ambush to get at April again. He guessed that, since Donnie was off collecting parts for the teleporter with Ella, the Kraang thought they had another chance to grab the turtles' human friend. Thank goodness that they had allowed Darwin to come with them, he was probably the only one who could handle the Kraang and the Foot Bots easily. Ella's brother was certainly a good warrior, not much of one for letting others down and it showed.

Still…Mikey had made a rough landing and gotten a bit injured at the same time. He retreated into the kitchen to clean himself up. He usually did this for himself, since he didn't want to seem like the "baby" of his family when he got injured.

"Ah!" He winced as he tried to open the old cupboard that held the bandages.

His hands were hurt more than he thought, just touching something was painful to do. He looked at the scratches on his palms and fingers. He looked like someone had taken a cheese grader to his skin. He was bleeding from his hands and as well as the large cut on his arm that he had gotten from one of those stupid chain link fences that some people put in the alleyways.

"Mikey?" Ella's voice snapped him out of his misery, she was looking in at him. "Are you alright? I heard that you guys ran into some trouble tonight."

"I-Its nothing Ellie." He decided to use his new nickname for her now. "Just a few cuts, nothing major…"

He and his brothers were always getting injuries on their hands, it came with using such weapons as theirs and engaging in regular hand-to-hand combat. Mikey didn't really think much about it any more…but he guessed that to Ella it seemed a bit harsh when her friends always came back with wounds on them.

A gentle hand took his and he turned to see Ella looking at the damage to his palms and fingers. Mikey felt the beginnings of a blush graze his face under his freckles from having her holding his hands like this.

He saw her look up when she noticed the spike in the reptile's temperature. "Look at you, all red AND cut up. You didn't over heat out there did you?"

He looked away, having no response to her. How could he not turn a little pink from this?

"Here, I'll do it." Ella reached over to the cupboard and took out a few bandages, a bowl, and a wash towel.

He knew what each one was for but right now had no objection to her. Normally, he would insist that he could do it himself but…this was Ella, he couldn't say no to her. He sat down on a stool and watched her as she walked over to the sink to fill the bowl with warm water. When she came back she placed it down on the counter before taking his hands in her's so she could clean the wounds.

He gazed at her in silence as she cleaned the cut on his arm with a few brushes of the cloth then proceeded to bandage it.

He couldn't resist using a slightly altered movie quote here. "Well you're being strangely cryptic as you wrap your magic bandages around my injured arm."

Ella laughed as she recognized the quote but she continued to work, gently washing the cuts clean of any dirt or gravel he may have picked up on the way back. "Disney nut…"

Now that he had a moment to look at her, he fell quiet as he examined her features. Sure, he had known she was pretty but…it was more her personality that had captured his heart. Her never ending smile, the small jokes that she tossed at him in exchange for his own. The way she always laughed even at his corniest jokes and smiled at his pranks against his brothers. Truly, there was no one kinder in existence than the girl before him.

Now he could see her narrow face was clear of any flaws or scars, and it was topped with the shining black mane of hair that Ella always kept in a sectioned pony tail at the base of her skull. The color of her skin…it was darker than his. He had more of a yellowish tint to his skin while she seemed just…a pure green. Like the flawless jade statues he had seen sometimes in television. Her eyes were a slightly darker shade of blue than his own, sort of like two turquoise stones in a statue of jade and ebony. She was beautiful on the outside as well as the inside….why it took him so long to appreciate it was beyond him.

Ella meanwhile finally had the chance to examine her friend for herself. She didn't say anything as she worked but…she had never really looked at him before. As she held his hand gently with one of her own as the other one dabbed carefully at the cuts, she noticed how small hers were compared to his. Her tiny bones were dwarfed by the turtle's. He could've easily taken away his hand at any moment, or crushed her small fist with his own…but he didn't. Mikey was gentle, letting her have this moment to show that she really cared.

She fought the urge to just hold his hands for a while longer than needed. Just to have them there. His skin…it wasn't exactly perfectly smooth, at a certain point on the back of his hands she could feel the small round plates or scales that protected him from most damage. Yet…it was "soft" to her, her skin was plain compared to his when it came to texture.

Mikey blinked out of his daze for a moment as he saw her wrapping one of his hands up with the bandages before moving to the next one.

He raised his bandaged hand behind her slightly, stopping just before her back. That was the moment he gave up on trying to tell himself that his love for her was wrong. Ella would always be Ella and there was nothing he could do about it, and he would always love her for being herself. He wanted to pull her close to his chest, hold her tight, and never let go. Just a short time ago had he realized that, their time together grew ever shorter. He wanted someone to just… stop the world, stop the world at that moment and let it stay here. At this moment he was at perfect peace, having her here with him…that was all he needed.

He felt her gentle touch on his face, just below his mask and looked up at her, startled.

"Sorry," She gave him a small smile. "But you seem to have torn your mask a bit and gotten a small cut on the side." She put her fingers on the spot where the scratch was. "Just there…"

It didn't quite register with him what she had to do until he felt her thumbs slip just under his mask. Instinctively, he grabbed her wrists with his hands just before she could lift it up and over his eyes. He felt her pause in her movements, as he held her gently. He wasn't stopping her just…letting her know that he was slightly nervous about this. Ella understood why this was hard for him…the mask was part of his identity, part of who he was. Not to mention one of the only pieces of "clothing" he wore. To allow someone else remove it was a huge sign of trust on his part.

He wasn't going to stop her though, he allowed his hands to relax their grip on her arms and fall back to his side. She smiled a bit as she carefully slipped the mask up and over his eyes, placing the orange band of fabric down on the counter. She now noticed that his bright blue eyes stood out more without the mask on and she had never really noticed the freckles on his cheeks until now. It made him look younger than his brothers, and more like a kid rather than a teenager. It was hard to believe that he was actually older than her. She kept to herself but…she thought he looked cute.

For Mikey, this was a huge step for him in how he felt about Ella. He had always worn the mask around her. To have her remove it well…he felt exposed. Like a non-mutant turtle that had gotten flipped over on the back of his shell. There was pretty much nothing hiding what he was now….a monster. A mutated pet turtle. Not a human like her…No, half human.

That's right…she wasn't human completely. He looked at her as she gently washed the cut on his face. It was easy to forget sometimes that Ella was also half mutant turtle. She didn't really look it at all.

He placed his hand over the one of her's that was resting on the counter. He saw her smile but she continued trying to stop the small stream of blood on his face. He hand never thought about it at all, the green skin that Ella had was from being half mutant as well as only having four fingers. They were so small…so tiny compared to his. Her skin was so soft too…and smooth.

"I know, they're odd…" Ella had noticed him looking at her hands. "Even for me they are."

She placed the bandaid on his face carefully as he looked back up at her. She thought she was strange? But…she was so perfect, how could she think that?

"Like I've said before…I'm the one who stands in the middle of both worlds." She looked down, also looking at her hands as he took them in his own. "I'm…double weird."

"No." He said quietly, yet he got her attention. "You are…you are just you. We're the same Ella." He took her hands and held them flat in his own palms. Showing her the similarities between her, him, and a normal human. "We have fingers and lines in our palms. Humans sometimes lose a finger or two, and they have different skin colorations as well. We may be green but…that makes us unique. It doesn't make us any less human…we're not monsters or animals, we're just…us."

Ella looked up at him, having been listening to his words with all her heart. "Mikey…"

_"I should tell her…"_ He told himself, wanting Ella to know the truth. _"I should tell her now…."_

"Ella…I…" He started to say something but hesitated, the words were hard to get out.

"Yes?" She wondered what had gotten the normally talkative turtle to be so quiet.

A knock at the door way broke the moment and the two looked over at the turtle who now stood there. Darwin was leaning against the frame, watching them both.

"Mind if I cut in?" He asked, getting a slight glare from Mikey for ruining the moment, "Ella, Donnie wants your help on figuring out how to put the device together."

"Oh, right." She got up and gave Mikey back his mask. "H-Here, you should get Master Splinter to repair that."

"O-of course." He felt his blush return as he gently took the fabric from her. "Good luck Ella."

"Thanks…" She let the subject from before drop as she headed out past her brother.

Mikey shot the other turtle a look for making him lose his chance to tell Ella how he felt. Darwin however came back with a look of warning before turning to go. He wasn't going to let Ella become too attached to a world that they would have to leave.

Mikey looked down at the mask in his hands, the small tear in it was nothing compared to how defeated he felt right now. He had missed his chance…but then again, Ella would have to leave eventually. He didn't want to be a burden on her and yet…earlier when he had touched her hands, she smiled. She smiled each and every time. Now he felt his own smile come to his face, maybe…she would come back someday after she left. Then….then he would tell her.


	13. Chapter 13

As Ella and Donnie worked on figuring out how to repair and recode circuitry, Darwin took some time to look around this version of the lair. He had to admit..it was much neater than the one he remembered from his father's time. Aside from the pizza box that he and Mikey had brought back with them from the group's patrol, the place was clean of any litter. He noticed the rotating turnstiles that marked the exit to the alley were long since locked in place, this room probably used to be part of an old subway line before it was shut down. 

As he turned to face the rest of the lair to over see all of it, he took note of the makeshift spiral stair case above him that was how they had got in here the first time he and Ella came. Below it was what Mikey called "the pit" for it was a rectangular dip in the floor with cushioned seats, once used for subway riders he guessed. Now everyone used it as a place to hang out and also as a meeting area when it came to getting ready to head out. On either side of it were two arcade machines that Donnie must have saved and repaired himself. One would often see Raph playing on one of them and sometimes Mikey on the other but…the orange masked turtle liked to play a game on the T-Phone more. 

To his left was where Donnie's lab was stationed and more of the former subway tunnels ran. The kitchen was to Darwin's right and a bit behind him too, he had seen that earlier so he didn't dwell on it too long. Looking past the entrance his eyes spotted the green dividers that marked the entrance to the dojo and Splinter's room. Darwin had only been in there once and that was when he and Ella had told their new friends their biggest secret. He hadn't gone back inside although…he should probably get some training in since he had been injured for so long. He made a mental note as he turned his attention to what worried him most. The water way entrance. He wasn't too sure that having such a direct line from the water pipes was such a good idea. However it wasn't for his sake that he was concerned. Other than that small flaw though, the lair was remarkably well suited for the family that lived here. Plus it always seemed to have room for a few extra visitors. 

A frustrated groan from April caught his attention and he went to check on her. She was typing away on her laptop but looked frustrated about what she was doing. Darwin came over and saw that it seemed like she was doing research for a history paper. 

"Something wrong April?" He asked her, curious as to what made her upset. 

"Its just this assignment," April explained to him, turning her laptop to show the turtle as he sat down beside her. "The lost colony of Roanoke Island is our main focus but no one is going to be writing the same paper, I guarantee you. My teacher expects us to take all the stray bits and theories floating about and use them to create our own possible guess as to what happened. Unfortunately there's so much false data out there it's hard to tell what is and isn't useful!" 

He saw her sigh as she looked back at her laptop. "I'd ask Donnie for help but…history isn't his strong point." 

"Hmm… Roanoke Island huh?" Darwin knew this from his own school work. "I can help you with that if you like." 

"Really?" She looked up in surprise. 

"Yeah," He nodded to her with a smile. "I mean, I'm no expert but I was always better at history than math in class." 

"You went to school?" April blinked as Darwin carefully took her laptop to see what she had found. "Wow, your future must be really tolerant." 

"Well not public school April," The green masked terrapin chuckled. "Ella and I were home schooled by a family friend. Perhaps you and the guys have met him here. Does the name Leatherhead sound familiar to you?" 

"Yeah, the guys mentioned him before." April nodded as she recalled the gator being talked about.

"You know Leatherhead?!" Mikey's voice made April look back at the turtle as he joined them. "What's he like in your world then?"

Darwin groaned in annoyance, Mikey was the last turtle he wanted to see right now. He gave the other reptile a look but he answered the question anyway. "He's smart, our aunt says only Donnie can rival him in intelligence. Leatherhead is the one who taught Ella and I a lot of what we know when it comes to history and science."

"Huh," Mikey's curiosity had been satisfied and Darwin clearly didn't want him there at the time so he backed off. "Who'da thought it…"

After Mikey left Darwin focused on helping April with her paper, so he had something to do other than go over to the other side of the lair and give Mikey the "stay-away-from-my-sister-or-die" lecture. He couldn't help being protective over his twin, besides it was just…weird. Seeing Mikey crushing that hard for Ella was sending off several alarm bells in Darwin's brain. At least Ella seemed oblivious to it…or he thought she was. There was no external sign to indicate otherwise. He pushed those thoughts from his mind as he aided April in sorting fact from fiction in the data online.

Donnie looked out from his lab at the studying duo and couldn't but feel a slight pinch of jealousy. Darwin was helping April in the one subject that the techie turtle couldn't. Still, if he helped April with her grades…who was Donatello to complain? At least a smile was back on April's face now, and that was a welcome sight to see.

"You shouldn't worry." Hearing Ella's voice made him turn around. "Darwin knows how you feel about her. Honestly, he figured it out before I did."

Donnie smiled a bit, glad for a voice of reason right now. "I'm just happy to see April smiling again. It's been a rough year for her."

Ella nodded as she focused on arranging circuit boards and wires as needed. He came over to assist her with the task by typing in code on his laptop for the program they would use to operate the machine once it was built. It was a difficult task but it needed to be done sooner or later and he was probably the only mutant in the lair who could do it. His mind wandered to April every other minute but he tried his best to focus on his work….but it proved impossible knowing she was right outside and he wasn't there with her.

"Donnie," Ella had noticed him struggling to focus. "You okay?"

"Huh?" His mind was still coming out of a bit of a day dream. "Oh yeah… I'm fine."

"You wanna talk about it." Ella saw right through his lie.

He sighed, saved what little work he had accomplished, and closed his computer in order to speak with Ella. "I guess I'm just a little worried…what with April heading out on missions already without me there to back her up."

Ella put down her tools to listen to him. She didn't say a word, she just let him speak without fear of being teased for it.

"I know how stubborn she can be," He voiced his concerns and what not for the first time out loud. "She won't ask for help until she's already in danger and that's what makes me worry so much. Even with Master Splinter's training she still has a long way to go before she can fight on her own. I just want to be there for her, even when she doesn't want the help. I…I don't think I could handle losing her, knowing that I could've been there to stop it."

"Donnie, you know your brothers and Darwin won't let any harm come to her." Ella gave him a comforting smile as she walked around the other side of the desk to place a hand on his shoulder. "They care about her too. Not as much as you do…but they still see her as a friend that's equal to family. Darwin and I may not have known her for as long as you have, but we still value her friendship since we don't have many friends. All of us will be looking out for her just as much as you already do. I can promise you, with you not being there in battle…it is more of a rally cry for everyone to back April up even more. You have nothing to worry about, she'll be fine."

He breathed out, feeling like he had been unable to for some odd reason, then looked up at Ella with a grateful smile. "You're right, thanks Ella."

"No problem." She returned the smile and went back to her work.

He felt like a great weight had been taken off of his shell. Ella was a great friend and it was nice to have someone who didn't tease him about his crush. She had calmed his fears and restored his faith in the abilities of the others. He was usually the one who fixed things…that was just what he did. Seemed Ella knew how to fix a few things as well. Perhaps there was something he could help with too. He had seen her face when she came in earlier after Darwin had interrupted her talk with Mikey. For someone who smiled a lot…it was easy to tell when something had shaken her happiness.

"Uh…hey," He spoke up but talking to girls in general wasn't his strong point. "What happened earlier? When Darwin went looking for you."

"Well, I was helping Mikey bandage himself up," She explained to him, checking the plans to make sure she was correct in what she was building. "I caught him staring at my hands and he's not the first. He told me that, although they may seem odd…we are both people regardless of the number of fingers we have or the color of our skin."

Donnie blinked; his hyperactive little brother had said something like that? Well, Mikey could get surprisingly serious at times so it wasn't that hard to believe.

"After that it seemed like he wanted to tell me something important," Ella sighed in annoyance as she remembered what happened next. "Then Darwin came in and retrieved me before Mikey could say what it was."

"Brother ruined the moment huh?" Donnie didn't know how that felt at all…oh no, it wasn't like Mikey interrupted his training sessions with April ALL THE TIME. Yeah…familiar.

"Yeah, but its fine." Ella smiled but he could still see the slight hurt in her eyes over her brother's overprotective actions. "I'll just ask Mikey about it later."

She moved one of the wires into place and part of the device sparked up. Making Ella recoil away from it which in turn caused her to fall off of her stool and onto the floor. Donnie got up to go help her to her feet and to make sure she was okay. Although Ella insisted that she was fine, Donnie got the first aid kit regardless. She had fallen backwards into a stack of extra parts and failed inventions so it a few scratches and cuts were present on her now. One particularly nasty one had gone through the back of her shirt and left a gash.

"I should go patch up." She looked rather embarrassed now. "Anyway, the circuitry is basically done. Its just those components reused in a loop all around the machine. The rest is up to the coding and power source when we get it."

"Alright, ask April to help you with that injury." He handed her the first aid kit so she could go bandage up.

"I will." With that she headed out to go get April so she could have a hand with treating the wound. "I could also use her advice on something…"

April understood why Ella had come to her for help with bandaging up. Everyone else in the lair was a guy and Ella was extremely self conscious about the way she looked. So to have anyone else give her a helping hand would be very awkward and embarrassing for the younger kunoichi. The girls retreated to the kitchen and closed the door so the boys wouldn't bother them.

"Alright, get that suit off so we can patch you up." April had been to gym before so this was no big deal.

Ella sighed then reached behind her to undo the zipper that held the black suit on her body. Underneath it was a simple set of a short shirt and leggings, this left her back and middle open to be seen. Now April could see the full extent of Ella's mutant origins.

Ella's green skin was a constant only lightening up slightly on her front where her plastron would be if she had been a turtle like her brother. As she turned around so April could see her injury, the red head noticed something that Ella had kept hidden this whole time.

"Nice tail." April smirked as she spotted it poking out from a hole that had clearly had been manually cut into the fabric of the clothing.

"Not even Darwin knows I have it…" Ella looked away, she always kept it hidden since it was too small to really be noticeable and she just felt better not letting it show. "Our cousins teased us so much already I didn't have the courage to let them see it too."

April brought over the disinfectant and some rags so they could get to work. "You really are shy about what you are aren't you?"

"Well…yeah." Ella took one of the alcohol soaked rags and began to clean her smaller cuts. "I always have been. I could clearly see how different I was compared to my human cousins…so I tried to seem as normal as possible growing up. Not that it stopped the teasing that I got. It's come in handy when coming to other times and worlds like now. I look almost human and, with a bit of make-up and a pair of gloves, I think I could go outside during the daylight hours some day. If my aunt will ever let me go….Man, my life has been really weird."

"I hear you." April knew how life could get for girls like them.

Ella winced at the sting of the disinfectant when it touched the large gash on her back but she didn't make a sound.

"Can I ask your opinion on something April?" Ella turned her head to look back at the other girl.

"Not sure how much help I can be but sure." She shrugged but listened to younger teen. "What's the problem?"

"Does it ever go away?" She knew April would know the feelings that she was struggling with.

"Come again?" April placed the bandage over the wound before stepping back to let Ella grab her suit.

"Ever since I learned what happened to my family I have been a mess of emotions," Ella told her as she grabbed the suit and began to stitch closed the hole in it. "But mostly…all it is is pain and the haunting memories all around. So…does it ever go away April?"

She saw the red head sigh before sitting across from her. "Ella, I've been asking myself the same question…and the only answer I've found, is no. It doesn't."

Ella placed her stitching needle down on the counter along with her arm. She knew only time would be able to calm her emotions about what happened. It happened so long ago but she felt the flux of emotions swirling in her heart as if it had only been days ago.

The familiar feeling of something small nudging her arm made the green girl look down to see a tiny tan tortoise gazing up at her.

"Oh hello there little guy." She couldn't help but smile, he reminded her of Max in a way. "Where'd you come from?"

"That's Spike." April smiled as Ella put her sewing kit away then proceeded to put her black suit back on. "He's Raph's pet turtle, he must've brought him in here to feed him before we came in."

"Tortoise." Ella corrected her friend. "This little guy's a tortoise. Common mistake though."

Ella noticed the look that Spike was giving her, she knew it from her little baby turtle Max all too well. Her heart melted for this tortoise, a stabbing pain of guilt for losing her only friend back home was ignored as best as she could muster the stubborness. So she sighed and looked around the kitchen. She owed Raph a bit for putting up with her and her brother for this long. For the toughest of the turtles, Raph was also the most sentimental and careing of the brothers…not that he would ever admit it. Spotting Spike's small bowl, Ella walked over and picked it up then proceeded to the fridge. She smiled at how Raph kept a full head of lettuce in here for his pet, it was cute. She broke off one of the leaves and went to wash it with some water from the sink. Ella could feel April's curious gaze on her as she used her shuriken to remove the edges of the leaf that had gone bad, leaving only the part that should be eaten. Now it was small enough for Raph's pet to eat without overfeeding him. Ella tossed the rotten scraps in the small trash can under the sink before washing her own hands and placing Spike's bowl down in front of him.

"There you go Spike." She gave the small reptile a stroke on his head with a gentle finger and fondly smiled when he raised his head into her touch for a moment before he took a bite of the leaf.

"Wow," April blinked in surprise. "That's exactly what Raph always does to feed him."

"Well, I actually had a pet turtle back home." Ella smiled as she picked up the sewing kit and the first aid box to put them away. "Granted Max was just a baby and he had more personality and I always had to feed him other things too…but the routine was mostly the same."

April smiled at that before the two headed out of the kitchen. Seeing the girls finally come out, Raph went inside to find that Spike had already been fed. Just by looking at the leaf and what water remained on it, he could tell that one of the girls had taken their time to prep the lettuce properly.

"Well, seems that you charmed your way into the hearts of one of those girls," He chuckled as he sat down to talk to his pet. "I hope you're proud of yourself. Chew on your leaf if you're proud of yourself."

He could've sworn the non mutant had a smug look on his face as he took a bite of the plant before him.

"Yep," Raph smirked at that. "That's what I thought."

"Hey Raph," Leo knocked on the door and looked in at his brother. "Darwin and I are headed out to check the tunnels for Kraang droids. You coming?"

"Uh…" As much as he wanted to, he had to stay put and put Spike away when the pet was done eating. "Tell you what, I'll catch up with you guys."

"Alright." Leo let his brother have his time with his pet.

As the blue masked leader headed out he saw Darwin warily watching Mikey's and Ella's interactions. Leo rolled his eyes, there was the over protective Darwin he knew. Not that he could blame his actions really, Darwin was not only a leader…but the only family that Ella had ever known. He probably wasn't too open about the idea about her getting so close to someone else. Leo himself was cautious when Donnie first fell for April but…after so much time spent getting to know the fiesty ginger, Leo had to admit one thing: there wasn't anyone better suited to looking out for Donnie. She had proven that over and over again. Darwin would one day see through his guard like nature and notice what would be best for his sister's heart. For now however, Ella was content to have Mikey as a friend and that was all that the white shelled turtle was ready to see the two as.

As the discussion between the two on the bench in the pit shifted to video games and the advancements in gameplay, Leo walked over to the grumpy shuriken weilder.

"Darwin, you ready to go?" He asked the other turtle, keeping his distance slightly.

He saw the blue eyes flick to him then back at the duo in the pit for a moment before closing for a brief moment. "Yeah…let's get moving."

He watched as Darwin took up his own katana before looking up at the more experienced leader and Leo turned and headed out, vaulting over the turnstiles that barred the entrance of the lair. He didn't hear anything but he knew that the other turtle was following him as they headed out. After a couple minutes of the still silence between them Leo looked back at where he thought Darwin would've been and blinked when he wasn't there. For such a pale colored turtle he had evaporated into the darkness with more ease than Leo had ever seen from his brothers or experienced himself.

"I'm right here Leo." He jumped a bit when Darwin spoke right behind him, the younger teenager having gotten in front of him some how.

Darwin raised a questioning eyebrow ridge at Leo's reaction to his stealth ability, out of the brothers he figured Captain Fearless here would be used to people around him being near but not heard. Leo just stared at the other leader for a moment or two, a flashback to a episode of his favorite tv show going through his mind in that brief moment. Private Gio the silent mercenary that the General Hoccar had hired to accompany Captain Ryan to the forest planet with his silent demeanor and deadly skill was all kinds of intimidating and…truth be told, scary. However…he was silent all the time because of his odd appearance made him stick out like a sore thumb. Just now did Leo realize why Darwin was so much better at stealth than anyone he had ever known…the color of the turtle's shell stood out like a beacon if he let it. He had to be ten times as good as any of Leo's brothers…of course that made him quieter than a cat and Leo was sure one day Darwin might even rival Master Splinter in that area.

"Earth to Leo?" Darwin snapped his fingers to bring Leo back from whatever little planet he had gone to. "Hello? Leo!"

"Whoa!" He abruptly pulled out of his thoughts and puts his hands up slightly in defense. "Yeah. I'm here. Sorry."

Darwin shook his head with a smirk as they continued walking through the tunnel, he made sure to stay by Leonardo's side this time so as not to freak him out again.

"Where did you learn to sneak like that?" Leo asked after a few more minutes of silence had passed. "Your dad teach you?"

"Actually no." Darwin smiled anyway at the amount of surprise that still remained in the other turtle's voice from earlier. "I had to learn stealth on my own. Grandfather made it pretty clear that I needed to be the best of stealth masters one day. My own hearing was my best friend during this last year…I had to get to the point where I couldn't even hear myself breathe without forgetting how."

"Is that why you locked yourself in your room?" It was the leader's turn to raise an eyebrow at his companion, the half-mutant's head dropping down instantly.

"….Ella told you." The shame in his voice was clear as he was reminded of his largest error ever. "As great as my own training has helped…I admit she was right about it being more fun when there's someone you have to get past."

Leo nodded his agreement whole heartedly, remembering his own training with his brothers while growing up. Sensei had called it "hide-and-seek" but there really wasn't much hiding involved for them early on. He and his brothers were so focused on finding each other that they completely neglected the other part of the session. This let to a few smacks on the head and countless lectures from Splinter, but in the end each session got better until it was simply second nature to them. This second nature annoyed April to no end when they went to visit her at her aunt's house and slipped through the window to wait for her to come upstairs again. Since she couldn't always come to them they visited her, however she was trying to get the concept of knocking first into their skulls without results. Maybe that was why Darwin always chose to stay in the main room and not venture into the other areas of the lair without knowing which rooms they were. Growing up with a twin sister he probably had developed massive respect for other people's space. Huh, a secret gentlemen…who'd of thought it?

"My father trained me in hand-to-hand ninjutsu." Darwin's answer to the other part of Leo's question made him look over at the other turtle. "I actually prefer it to my shuriken most of the time."

"What made you choose that as your weapon anyway?" Leo didn't really see a benefit in luging around an oversized throwing star.

They stopped as Darwin turned to face him, calmly judging the best way to answer Leo's question in his mind. Finally he sighed and took out a small, normal sized shuriken. Holding it up in front of his face for Leo to see all four points on it, once sharp now dulled. Once it saw many a battle, recovered every time by the ninja who had thrown it, but now the warped metal was black in places where something had burned it and Leo questioned if it could even fly.

"This." He held it flat in his palm for Leo to clearly see the ancient singe marks on the hand pounded metal. "This is what made me decide Leo."

"That old practice star?" Leo was confused, how could an old weapon like that decide the way a ninja would fight for the rest of his life.

That was when he caught a glimpse of something familiar in Darwin's eyes that he had seen before in Master Splinter's eyes…fondness for a certain item that would be worthless to a stranger.

"Yeah…" The younger ninja smiled as he looked down at the tiny scrap of steel in his palm. "It's just an old double sided trainee's shuriken. It's cracked in the side and flies like a brick…but I wouldn't trade it for anything. To anyone else this old thing would just be scrap or melted into a new form…but to me, this thing means more than any new blade ever could. The stories this thing could tell if it had a voice though…"

Leo fell silent as he watched Darwin, the way the younger mutant spoke sounded remarkably like some one twice his age. Suddenly he wasn't looking at Darwin…he was looking at another Leonardo. Eyes filled with the wisdom of his sensei, his father, his uncles, and his own life yet worn by the cost of the experience of loss that Leo himself could only imagine. That was when something that had been nagging at Leo ever since he met the pale turtle clicked into place: Darwin took every lesson that he had ever gotten from his grandfather when he had met him and instantly took them to heart. This made Darwin more adult than one would expect from a 14 year old mutant turtle.

He also understood now just who's weapon that old shuriken used to be before it had been passed to Darwin.

"I can still hear his voice when I first hit the practice dummy's shoulder," He looked up into the attentive eyes of Leo, silently demanding every ounce of focus from the turtle. "He told me, 'Your weapon is like any good woman, its all in how you hold her.'"

"He did **not** say that!" Leo laughed at the very idea of it.

"I swear to the tribual he did!" Darwin raised his free hand in an oath as a chuckle escaped his own throat.

As odd as it seemed at first Leo understood where the phrase had come from…memories of Karai. Ella had hinted that the emotions he himself had felt for the female Foot Clan member had also been felt in his double a world away. The twins's father must've been beating himself up over being so close to making an ally then losing her that he still felt that pain when the half-mutants had encountered him.

"But you know…he was right." Darwin grinned as he put his father's shuriken back in its leather hold on his belt. "Some times all it takes is one touch to change someone forever. Wether it is physically, mentally, emotionally…." He drew his katana for the first time since receiving them. "…or spiritually. Even now… There are moments where I SWEAR I can hear him gently giving me advice."

As Darwin put away the most beautiful blade that Leo had ever seen in his life, they began walking again. Any doubt that Darwin wasn't family had vanished as they had been talking and Leo found himself listening to this young shuriken wielder with the same respect and attentiveness that he normally reserved for Master Splinter. Darwin wasn't just a friend, he was another brother. He was assumed to be the eldest and most mature out of the four turtles normally, then here appeared another with some kind of experience that Leo had not gathered in his short time as leader or his life long training as a ninja. True…literally speaking Darwin was younger than Leo by a year, but he would never be seen the same way again in Leo's eyes. Not when Darwin had moments like this…when he could actually speak his mind out loud and someone would listen.

"I can't imagine what life would be like without sensei," Leo felt the need to ask the one thing that he knew took the most strength to carry with him was the one thing that Darwin didn't speak of. "How do you go on after getting that kind of news?"

The pale colored turtle just smiled and patted his friend's shell with a firm yet gentle hand. "You find a way Leonardo. For the sakes of those that need you most."

Leo nodded taking the bits of wisdom from the other turtle and placing his words from their conversation in the back of his mind for the future. That was when they both froze in their movements as they heard the slight roar of the water pipes roaring to life as a flash thunderstorm sent torrents of water into the tunnels around them. The creaking around them was enough to still both ninjas enough that a third party might want to check if they were still breathing. Experience in this kind of situation sent Leo back up the tunnel to get away from what he knew was coming, forgetting to give the order to run but Darwin was still following not far behind. They climbed into an alcove just in time as the wall of sewage charged past them, dislodged from its resting area by the sudden stream of rain water. After the danger had passed Darwin looked out from their sheltered area to check if it was safe.

"Well…haven't dodged one of those in a while." He commented on what had just happened, then looked back at Leo. "Nice call back there."

"Huh?" Leo blinked a bit confused by Darwin's choice of words. "What do mean? I didn't do anything, running from dangers in the tunnels is just instinct by now."

"You knew where to go to get out of the path of that wall of grossness." Darwin reminded the other turtle with a gesture of the hand to back where they had just been. "You didn't even need to say anything to know that I would follow. I know that sound of a flash flood in the tunnels all too well…but without a guide to these ones I wouldn't have known where to go to escape it."

Leo straightened up a bit as he heard the slightest hint of admiration in the other turtle. "Well, when you grow up in a place like this you learn the labyrinth like the back of your hand."

"Not everyone can say that Leo," The pale colored terrapin smirked as the two got down from the outcrop and headed back now that the tunnels were too dangerous to be in. "You won't admit it but you are a good leader."

"What? Come on," Leo rolled his eyes. "Just a few weeks ago we all got our shells handed to us because of some dumb mistake I made. What kind of leader drags his team down with him."

"He doesn't," The slightly smaller ninja's eyes softened when he saw Leo's shoulders slump slightly before Darwin continued. "But a GREAT leader's only as strong as his team mates. If I am strong enough to give enough courage to others that we can win then there's nothing that I can't do either. Leo, you got out of that situation because you had your brothers with you right?"

"…..yeah." Leo nodded, remembering the fight he and Raph had had before everything went to pieces then later the four of them making up for it by tending each other's injuries.

Darwin gave the leader of the group time to think as they walked in silence until they almost got to the lair then he placed a hand on Leo's shoulder, like an old friend should do.

"They will always be there even when you are scared to death," The two stood there for a moment as Darwin collected what was left of Leo's self confidence and sent it back to its owner. "Don't be afraid to call out for help Leo. Cause someone will hear you."

With that the white shelled turtle headed into the lair much to the delight of his sister who instantly launched herself into her sibling's arms, her velocity sending the two into a spin when he caught her then hugged her close. Watching as his new friend now regarded everyone around him with a loving gaze of valuing family around him, Leo smiled at how right Darwin was. A leader was only strong if he had those around him willing to follow him…and Darwin was willing to follow him and the others if it meant getting home. Leo let out a light laugh for himself before heading into the lair himself and getting tackled by Mikey with a hug.

"Leo! Where have you been?" He looked up as he heard Ella call his name before she wrapped her arms around him from the other side. "They were talking about the storm on the news and we all got worried that you guys might get washed away to Florida or something!"

"Heh, we're both fine Ella." Darwin smirked at seeing his sister act like her silly self again. "Thanks to Leo's quick thinking."

"Oooooooo! Tell us everything!" Hearing both Mikey and Ella muse at the same time was enough to make everyone look up and stare at the two as they released Leo in sync and pointed at each other. "Jynx! Hey! Jynx again!"

As the two comedians of the family tried to figure out who spoke first, Leo shook his head with an amused grin as he rejoined April on the bench, careful not to nudge her laptop which currently had her full attention as the news casters on the television gabbled on. A flash of white at the corner of his vision alerted Leo to when Darwin sat down on April's other side after he had put his shuriken and katana up against the far wall. He leaned over to check on April's report and how it was going while Leo picked up the remote for the set. When he flipped the channel to one that was showing a rerun of _Space Heroes_ he heard a grunt as someone flopped on to the top of the pit's exterior then he felt the soft cloth of Ella's ninja suit on his skin as her arms encircled his neck in a light hug that she seemed intent on keeping there. Her chin resting just on top of his head, making Leo reach up and stroke her hair for a moment to let her know it was okay to stay where she was before lowering his hand again. A pressure on his other side told him when Mikey had joined the group, not wanting to be left out. He didn't know when Raph had come in and taken a seat, but now he could see his brother regarding the small pet in his hands as Spike looked around the area at the two new faces in the group.

Leo turned his attention to the show but it was nice to be reminded that he was surrounded by a great family who counted on him just as much as he counted on them. Even the new brother and sisters he had gathered in these past few months made him feel as if there was nothing that they all couldn't accomplish.

"Hey where's Donnie?" April's voice got everyone's attention just before they were all plunged into total darkness from a sudden black out.

**"DONNIE!"** Every single teenager chorused, the normal four voices joined by two more as they glared back at where the tech head's lab would be.

"Sorry!"


	14. Chapter 14

Donatello Hamato bit his tongue to keep from letting out a frustrated phrase of Japanese that would've made Raph laugh. He had just been testing the compatibility of the software with a smaller version of the teleporter just to run a systems check before they had to move the components to the twins's hideout. What he HADN'T counted on was how much power it took to even turn the device on in the first place, one flip of the switch and he had caused a black out that probably went for a mile and a half on the surface. No wonder Ella had warned him to wait until they got the power source before turning it on. As he worked on getting the lights back on by fiddling with the fuse box in his workshop, he promised himself that…he would listen to her advice on portals and teleportation more closely from now on. 

He had his teeth clamped down on the small flashlight that April had gotten him for cases such as this when he needed his hands free and no one was around to hold the light for him as he worked. 

"Donnie, is everything okay?" April's voice made him glance behind him at the doorway as a few more beams of light entered his vision.

His brothers had located a few of the more bulky flashlights that Donnie had found and fixed up himself, now the extra lighting was a godsend as Donnie put down the one he was holding and April came over to serve as his lamp while he worked.

"It's fine, just blew the circuit that's all," He gave April a smile to let her know he had it under control. "I can fix this in a few minutes, so don't worry."

"I know," The human returned the smile as she watched him work with the wires. "You can fix anything."

If she saw how red his face suddenly got she didn't show it as the rest of the gang looked around trying to figure out what happened.

"You tried activating the device didn't you?" Darwin sounded slightly annoyed as he crossed his arms, not being one to have the benefit of holding a light.

"Y-Yeah…" Donnie let out an embarrassed laugh, rerouting one of the wires. "I didn't think a small scale version would take that much power."

"How much power we talking here?" Raph looked over at his brother with a concerned yet questioning look.

"In SI units, about 400,000 megawatts of power went into that small burst of a light show that I got out of the transdimensional teleporter." The moment he spoke in science terms a groan could be heard from his youngest brother.

"In English Donnie!" Mikey reminded him that not everyone could understand him.

Donatello rolled his eyes before simplifying his words. "Enough to power four small locomotives."

"WHAT?!" Came the collected shout making Don jump slightly.

While the boys were talking Ella had stepped inside of the garage and froze, her very body position like a statue as she listened to something that she swore that she never thought she'd hear again. Now she was rigid in place as she strained her ears, listening for it again.

"Donnie! That must've blacked out half the neighborhood above us!" Leo was instantly concerned but unaware that his shouts were disturbing Ella's focus.

"You don't think I realize that?!" Donnie shot back at his brother. "That's why I'm trying to fix it!"

"Guys…" Ella spoke calmly but her voice was drowned out by the males behind her.

"Then work faster!" Raph insisted, his tone sounding urgent.

"Yeah, we do NOT need more attention in this area of the city!" Darwin added in, taking Raph's side of things.

"Guys." Ella said again, a little firmer and a bit more annoyed.

"I'm working as fast as I can!" Donnie glared at the other turtles for a moment before turning his attention back to his work. "Its not like flipping a switch or a button!"

"A button would make it so much better!" Mikey added in trying to lighten his brothers's moods a little.

"Not if it said 'self destruct' on it!" Raph glared at his little brother.

"HEY, REPTILES!" Ella shouted at them and the group instantly fell quiet as those who weren't fixing the problem were startled into facing the frustrated kunonichi. "SHUT UP! I'm trying to listen."

She turned back around to stare ahead of her as she put all her focus into her ability to hear soft noises now that the boys had fallen silent, watching the girl as she listened to the harsh silence and the shuffling of wires.

Then, they all heard a tiny cry from an animal that they all knew deep down in their core. It was a small chirp from a baby turtle in distress, the very sound of it made Ella's head snap around to face the work-in-progress patrol buggy. The five mutant turtles in the room were practically holding their breath, even Donnie had stopped working when he heard that sound. Their instincts and human natures were at a stand still for a brief moment as they tried to figure out what the rising sense of panic in their chests was for. Ella put her teeth together and mimiced the same sound as she narrowed down where the little creature was. When the sound was returned she moved over to the ruined kart and crouched down, peering down at the darkness between the frame and the paneling

"Hey Raph can you bring the-" A light was shining down where she needed it to be before she had even finished asking.

She looked up at the gruff turtle, who's determined face told her that he understood what she was so worried about as he provided her the use of the flashlight.

"Thanks." She smiled at him before looking back down through the framing and paneling of the kart as another concerned chirp was heard.

Ella returned the call to comfort the small reptile trapped inside. As she finally spotted a glimpse of shell underneath the buggy, she looked up at Raph who instantly knew what she was asking and passed his light to Darwin.

"Alright, don't move." He told Ella as Leo and Mikey came over to help him lift the vehicle enough for their friend to get their tiny cousin out of harm's way.

Ella moved away from the rising metal frame until she saw Leo motion with his head for her to go ahead. She ducked under the machine and reached into the darkness that had been left behind by the lack of light that the flashlight had provided. She pulled out a tiny form that made one last surprised squeak before falling silent, then she moved back to let the others drop the buggy back onto the ground.

"Got it!" Donnie proclaimed shortly before the lights flickered back to life around them. "So, what 'cha got there Ella."

As Ella took a seat on a stool as the others gathered around for a look at the tiny animal she was holding close to her heart. It was a baby water turtle alright, barely bigger than Ella's tiny hand. Its shell was a dark green and its skin was a lighter tone than the girl holding him. When the reptile looked up at them, they could see the chocolate brown eyes were filled with curiosity of its surroundings. The pale yellow lines around its face made Darwin grin as he recognized the little pet.

"Hey, its Max." The pale colored half blood reached out and pet the little creature's head gently. "How'd you get here buddy?"

"That might've been my fault." Donnie chuckled as he realized that flash that he had gotten from the teleporter would've brought something from the other world. "The device did flash once before the power went out. Looks like it brought him here from your dimension by accident."

"So this is your pet that you were talking about," April smiled as Ella put the little turtle down on the workbench after Donnie cleared of a space. "I didn't expect him to be so small."

"He's just a baby April," The other girl smiled anyway as she looked down fondly at her pet. "He's only a few weeks old."

"God, what a cutie." April reached out and rubbed the little guy's chin causing the reptile to close his eyes for a moment in contentment.

"You shoulda seen him when I first got him." The other girl just smiled at that comment.

"So…minus the stripes on the little guy," Mikey had a thought in his head. "This is what we looked like when sensei first got us at the pet store?"

"Most likely," Leonardo bent down slightly for a better look at the tiny water turtle.

Max lifted his head, examining Leo in the exact same way and pushing himself up on his toes to get as close to the mutant's face as he could. Ella chuckled, shaking her head at Max's curious nature before picking up the little guy once more.

"I should get him something to eat and warm him up," It was cold in the lair today since fall was rapidly approaching so a non mutated reptile was always in danger of going into a hibernatve state. "I'll be in the kitchen."

Raph got up and followed her, curious about how she treated her pet. The rest of the gang just headed back to the pit except for two, Donnie and April since Don was still figuring out how to link up the different components for the teleporter so they could travel in a bag without breaking.

He looked over at her when he heard her laugh slightly. "What?"

"I'm just trying to picture what you guys looked like back when you were kids," April smiled at him as the mental image formed in her mind. "All I'm getting is green toddlers with shells."

Donnie returned her smile with one of his gap toothed grins. "Well, you're not wrong."

He moved some of his books and took out one tome that was rather water damaged. He opened up the back and took out a faded polaroid that made him smile when he just looked at it.

"I found a camera down here once and I admit I took a few photos after sensei had explained what it was." He rubbed the back of his neck as he handed her the photograph. "Most of them got lost in a flood but I saved this one…sensei took this one."

April carefully took the film as if it was the most precious item she had ever touched. When she looked at the photo she couldn't hold back a light laugh when she saw the four tiny green faces staring back at her. Even without their masks on she could pick them all out instantly. Mikey's freckles stood out even with the grin plastered across his face and she doubted his eyes could get any bigger. Behind him a shy toddler Leo ducked behind his brother's shoulder, dark blue eyes peering out at the camera from over Mikey's shell.

"Leo was camera shy?" April looked up at Donnie with a questioning look.

"More than that, he was straight up shy," The genius turtle laughed, remembering his brother's behavior when they were children. "Couldn't get him to talk for ages."

She looked back down at the photo in her hands, instantly recognizing Donnie's smile with the gap in it as he was the one pulling his brothers into the frame. Just behind him Raph looked surprised to even be included in the picture, but something was different about him and it took April a while to figure out what it was.

"Donnie." She said his name when she noticed what was different about his older brother. "Raph's shell…"

"Yeah…" Don nodded, seeing what she was talking about. "We don't talk about it… That's Raph's story to tell."

April gave him a small nod of understanding as she looked down at the image of the young hot head, uncracked plastron and all.

The gruff turtle himself had been watching Ella from the doorway as she went through the routine of feeding Max. The only difference between this and what he did for Spike was that Ella had to cut the lettuce into smaller pieces since Max was a baby and his beak wasn't hard enough yet to cut through the thicker part of the stem. The girl sat down in front of her pet as he began to eat, Raph had moved back out of the line of sight when she had come back around the counter mostly because he was afraid of what she might say if she saw him spying on her interactions with her pet.

"Max…what am I going to do with you?" The girl sighed crossing her arms on the counter before her and resting her chin on top of them as she looked at the turtle. "You vanish on me a week and a half ago and now you show up only after Don tested that device and blacked out half the block up top."

The reptile stopped eating to look at her, turning his head to the side a bit. Ella narrowed her eyes at the look that he had given her.

"Don't you give me that look," Her tone had switched to one of authority that Raph had never heard from her before. "You're too curious for your own good. Wandering off into parts of the tower that you shouldn't be in and sticking your beak into places it doesn't belong! You're lucky I heard your chirps today or who knows how long you would've been trapped under there!"

Max's head shrunk back into his shell a bit upon hearing her lecture as Ella sat up rubbing her temple a bit, reminding Raph all too well of Master Splinter.

"Look…" She sighed, trying to regain her composure in front of him. "I'm not mad at you I was just…worried about you Max. You really scared me when you vanished like that. So please…"

She put her finger under the hatchling's chin and gave him a firm look. "…don't EVER do that again young turtle."

Her face was close to the reptile's now, so Max stretched his neck a bit to touch his nose to her's before going back to eating. Ella just smiled and all the tension that was in her body quickly evaporated from that gesture.

"You really care about him don't ya?" Raph finally spoke up, his unexpected voice causing Ella to jump slightly in her seat.

She turned to face him, surprised that he had followed her in here, then he saw her cheeks turn a bit pinkish as she brushed a loose strand of hair out of her face. "Yeah. I take it you heard all that?"

Raphael grinned at seeing someone else get embarrassed about talking to their pet for a change. "Every word."

"I sounded corny didn't I?" She gave him an embarrassed smile, wanting him to answer her honestly.

"Actually, you sounded like a mom." He chuckled before grabbing a stool at the end of the concrete table and taking a seat.

"Oh shell…" The kunonichi laughed and shook her head a bit before looking at him again. "Already?"

"What do ya mean?" He was teasing her a bit as his eyes shifted focus to the baby turtle in front of them. "How long have you had this little guy?"

"About a week or two." Ella smiled as she watched Max eat too. "My aunt told me that having a pet is just like having a young child. It is your responsibility to take care of them, teach them right from wrong, and try to keep them out of trouble. If they make a mess…you gotta clean it up. So…if I sound like a mother around Max, it's normal."

Raph tilted his head to the side, considering her words. He had never thought about it like that before. He had always seen Spike as a sort of younger brother but never fully recognized how much it took to take care of a pet on your own…in the sewer… with limited resources. Wait a minute…where was Spike?

"Oh geeze!" He sprung to his feet, startling Ella enough that she almost fell off of her seat. "I forgot about Spike!"

He ran out to retrieve his own pet from where he had left him in the pit. Ella blinked then smiled at seeing how much the toughest of the group cared about a tiny tortoise.

A cool feeling on her hand made her look back down at Max who was looking up at her, his paw on her hand as he stared up at her with those honest brown eyes that warmed her heart.

"I love you too Max." She smiled at the turtle in front of her. "But you aren't leaving this table until you've finished your dinner."

* * *

Darwin on the other hand, had slipped away from the crazy shenanigans of the family in the lair to clear his head up on the surface. He now stood upon a roof top that was a few blocks away from the place that the Hamato clan called home so he wouldn't draw attention to the group that had been so kind to him. The turtle closed his eyes and raised his face so the drops of rain washed over him. He enjoyed the rain; being half human, he was warm blooded so the autumn storms always relaxed his mind and cooled his body. As the water from the sky was slowly absorbed into his mask, he breathed out the anxiety that the last week had brought him. When his moment of peace was interrupted by someone joining him on the roof top he didn't even flinch for the aura he could sense from where he was told him who it was.

"Hello there." He greeted her calmly, offering no anger or frustration to the female behind him. "Care to join me?"

He guessed that she must not've known what to say to him in that instant since he had never spoken directly to her until know. However he heard her come a bit closer, her footsteps hesitant. Still she came. Cautiously. Carefully. Judging his reaction and body language to her approach from a far.

There was a long silence between them as she stopped about three feet behind him and Darwin didn't move away from her.

"….you're different from the others." She remarked, finding this reptile to be a puzzle.

"I have no reason to fight you." He told her as he sat down cross legged on the concrete, opening his eyes only to see what he was doing then closing them lightly again. "Or hold any malicious intent towards you. Nor do you have any reason to battle me yet either."

There was another silence but he heard the shuffle of feet as she joined him upon the roof top, clearly sensing that he was not a threat now but if she made a move he could indeed hold his own. So she stood beside him looking out at the shining city before them. There were no words between them for a long time, neither side having any words for the other. A neutral moment of peace between two clans that should be at each other's throats but the warriors had no reason to shed blood tonight.

"You are…." The words must've been hard for her to speak. "…of the Hamato clan yes?"

His slowly opened and his sight was greeted by the twinkling lights of the city. "…I should be."

The light sound of clothing moving told Darwin that the kunonichi had turned to look at him, an unspoken question hanging in the air.

"For me, the Hamato clan has been dead for many years," The words that he would never dare to speak to anyone else came out, he felt that they needed to be heard by her at least. "Same goes for the Foot clan, both wiped each other out in my world. There is only me and my sister now. Us and the city. That's all."

He closed his eyes again, enjoying the light kisses of the water drops on his scales and skin. Darwin knew that what he had just said would kill any drive that The girl might have had earlier to harm him. The turtle had just set aside their families' age old feud so they could remain here as equals. Two teenagers still trying to find their way in this crazy world and just needed someone to be around.

"….What is your name?" It was such a simple question, but it was let out so quietly that Darwin almost missed it.

"Darwin, my name is Darwin." He smiled slightly when she had asked him that. "I doubt I even have a last name. What about you? What's your name?"

"You know my name." She told him, probably wondering if he was serious.

"I do." He gave a gentle nod. "I just want to hear you say it."

Darwin didn't judge her based on what he had heard from the others or whatever had happened in his home. He wanted to know this girl for who she was, not how she was seen by others.

"I am, Oroku Karai." She told him, a sense of pride came with her saying the name that she had been raised with.

"An honor to meet you for myself Karai," Pure honesty was all he could offer at this moment, along with the small smile upon his face. "And not through the stories of others."

He could feel her puzzled gaze again and secretly delighted in causing her some confusion in return for that which she often caused for his friends.

"I don't think it is fair to judge someone until I have met the person for myself." The pale turtle told her, his blue eyes finally opening up and coming to rest their focus upon her. "Don't you think?"

She blinked then looked down at the hard slab under her feet. Probably thinking over a few of her actions as she hesitated then made to sit down beside him, but she took to sitting on the ledge instead. His gaze softened as he realized that…his calm gentle way of speaking was making the female ninja uncomfortable. He said nothing but he closed his eyes again and allowed himself to fall into an easy meditation right there. He wasn't sure how long it was before he heard Karai come down from the ledge and join him in meditation. No words were said. Just quiet as they remained up there for a few hours, allowing the rain to wash away any doubts about they might have had for the other.

He opened his eyes about ten minutes after the rain had finally stopped and he rose to his feet. The sound of him moving caused Karai to look up as well, now noticing the grey upon the horizon.

"I should go." Darwin said, looking back at her as she got to her feet as well.

Karai simply watched him as he turned to go. However just as he got to the end of the roof she spoke up. "Darwin…"

"Hmm?" He turned around to face her, curious about what she had to say.

"Why do you not fear me?" She wanted to know why he had stayed in her presence for so long.

"Because you are different than your father," He told her what he had seen today. "You are loyal, yet there is also something different about you that drives you to making your own choices. Don't loose that. It makes you who you are, I can see that now."

He saw her eyes widen slightly in surprise before he turned and vanished across the rooftops, heading back to the apartment building that he shared with his sister. Never seeing the genuine smile that he had left on the Foot ninja's face.


End file.
